What Makes Moroccan Tiles Unique?



Posted: Wednesday, August 20, 2008

by David Calvin
Moroccan tile and Moorish home decor

Moroccan inspired interior design and architecture has a warm, spicy flair-the perfect theme to create a private exotic oasis getaway right in your own home.Let your creativity flow as you delve into the artistic charm of this old world culture.
 
With several official languages, Morocco is a crossroad of many cultures and styles.Often used as a source of inspiration for painters, writers and hippies, Morocco can be seen as a captivating oasis. The Moroccan style is now hot in the US, imposing its magic in the exclusive pueblo designed homes of Santa Fe including California and its introduction into New York, Florida, chicago, and Texas.Long on coastal seas, backed into desert and baked under a relentless sun, Moroccans take inspiration from the colors their geography provides.
 

Moroccan tiles also know as Moorish tiles or Zillij mosaic tile, Zellidj, Zillij, Zellij, zellige is an important element Moorish and Moroccan architecture and  decorating. The word tile is derived from the French word tuile, which is, in turn, derived from the Latin word tegula, meaning a roof tile composed of baked clay. The process of production begins by mixing clay and water and kneeling them by hands and feet until they reach a high level of flexibility and homogeneity. Then, the mixture is cut into squares of 1 cm thickness each. The squares get dried up under the sun before they are put in a special oven for their first phase baking. The tiles are placed in different levels according to the degree of temperature required to attain a particular color. The white tile is often placed in the bottom followed by the blue, yellow, and the green on the top. The second phase starts when we remove the tiles from the oven and separate them by their colors; once we are done with this process, we start drawing the patterns of the intended design directly on tiles; this is done by ‘rasham' followed by the cutting process which is performed by ‘naqqash' who carefully separate the drawn pattern by a sharpened hammer. Last but not least, ‘khallas' or finisher finishes the work by cutting the tiles' edges assuring that they meet all requirements for production. With the help of our design team, the zillij master draws the design layout on the ground and places each furmah or piece of tile in its exact place in the overall pattern. Interestingly enough, the placement of tiles is done upside down, which makes it even more difficult to absorb.


The art of handcrafting Moroccan tiles remained very limited in use until the Merinid dynasty who gave it more importance around the 14th century. Blue, red, green and yellow colours were introduced in the 17th century. The old enamels with the natural colours were used until the beginning of the 20th century and the colors had probably not evolved much since the period of Merinids. The cities of Fes and Meknes remain the centers of this art.
 what makes Moroccan tiles different from any other tiles?

Moroccan tiles are The art of mosaic tiles dates back many centuries in the old city of fez in Morocco. Handmade, hand-glazed and hand-cut Moroccan mosaics are crafted using traditional and regional organic clays and glaze pigments. Moroccan tiles are historic tiles dated many centuries ago from the famous Al Hambra palaces and Granada in Spain to the luxurious homes in Fez Morocco.Moroccan tiles are rich of complex geometric patterns that refflect the beauty of the ancien art of geometry.Geometric patterns are among the most recogbizable visual expressions of Moroccan art and architecture.In the past, Moroccan craftsmen had an extensive practical knowledge of geometry. They know how to divide circle into twelve equal sectors without measuring the angles with a protractor. They could construct a large geometric pattern on the dome of a palace and ensure that the basic motifs linked to gether perfectly all the way around . Their skill was not based on theory or mathematical calculation; they created the patterns by drawing circles and lines. In the ancient world in Morocco, architects would use a piece of rope to draw up full scale floor plans of a building. One end of the rope was tied to a fixed point; the other was attached to a piece of wood. by walking round the fixed point with the ropetaut, the architect could mark out a perfect circle, the size of which was naturally determined by the length of the rope. Straight lines could also be drawn , again by holdingthe ropetaut between two points. A compass and ruler are sophisticated versions of the rope; nothing more was needed then, and the same principle applies to the geometric pattern of Moroccan mosaic tiles  ( zillij tiles).


Moroccan tiles are suitable for indoor and outdoor uses such as kitchen backsplash, kitchen floors, Bathroom floors, Bathroom shower, swimming pool, fountain, fireplace, walls, wall clading. Moroccan tiles are very durable and require minimum maintenance and the solid prove that these tiles are durable is the palaces in Al Hambra, Granada in Spain and Morocco they have these tiles all over the walls & floors and even after so many centuries they look almost new.
By being the largest and the exclusive manufacturer of high-end Moroccan tiles in Morocco, Saint Tropez Boutique dedicated to preserve the art of handmade Moroccan tiles and Moroccan arts and crafts by investing money and time to operate several Moroccan tiles workshops in Morocco and making sure that each Moroccan tile is handcrafted from quality organic clay and traditional made using basic tools same used by the Moors for so many centuries ago. After several years of intense reserches, Saint Tropez Boutique came up with brilliant technique to have the famous Moroccan mosaic tiles pre-mounted or pre-assembled into sheets for easy installation. Saint Tropez Boutique is now able to produce pre-mounted Moroccan tiles into 12" x 12" sheets so anyone can install them without any assitance or special technique, all you have to do is add mortar to the back of the Moroccan tiles and install them same if you are installing Marble mosaics or Glass mosaic.

Moroccan mosaic tiles are timeless and works beautifully in traditional and contemporary interiors.

 

for more information on handmade Moroccan mosaic tiles, Moroccan clay tiles, Moroccan ceramic tiles, zillij tiles, Moroccan terracotta tiles, Moorish tiles, Moorosh mosaic tiles, zellige tiles, bejmat tiles please contact:

Moroccan tiles & Moorish mosaic tiles By Saint Tropez Boutique:
25 Evelyn way
San Francisco, California 94127

USA

Phone: (415) 513-5920

Email: sales@sainttropezstone.com

Website: http://www.sainttropezstone.com

 

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