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Tiles Across Time


Tiles Across Time offers an exceptional collection of outstanding, vibrantly colourful visual images of surface tiles, many captured in situ, and originating from the world's great ceramic-tile making centres of the past.

Visual Research and  Source for Artists, Architects, and Designers
The collection provide a wealth of ​visual research of sources, material, design ideas and details to meet the work needs of architects and interior designers, artists, textile professionals, theatrical and film designers, illustrators, and graphic designers.

Mesopotamia Ancient Beginnings

Mesopotamia was an ancient region of southwestern Asia in present-day Iraq, lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Its alluvial plains were the site of the civilizations of Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.

Picture
Title: Lion made of glazed bricks, Ishtar Gate, 605-562 BC. Order No.: A1-2714. Location: Berlim Museum

Picture
Title: Donkey made of glazed bricks, Ishtar Gate, 605-562 BC. Order No.: A1-2714. Location: Berlin Musuem

Greek Floor Mosaics

Picture
Title: Greek Mosaic floor of geometric designs, 2nd century AD. Order No.: A1-9245. Location: Katos Pafos, Cyprus.
In this mosaic floor, the compositions are placed in a grid of squares. This greek and roman technique of structuring a composition would be adopted and adapted by Islamic craftsmen. 

Picture
Title: Gladiator, House of Achilles, 4th century AD. Order No.: A1-9742. Location: Kato Pafos, Cyprus.
Picture
Title: Mosaic of Hellenistic figure, 2nd century AD. Order No.: A1-9229. Location: Katos Pafos, Cyprus.


Roman Art - Mosaics

PictureTitle: Roman Floor Border Mosaic. Order No.: A1-1744. Location: Daphne area, Antioch (Worcester Museum, MA).
House of the Vine Scroll - Mosaic border fragment - Material stone cubes (limestone & marble) embedded in line mortar


The border is filled with a vine scroll inhabited by birds and animals, as well as a twisting ribbon of grey, pink, and yellow cubes of stone (tesserae) against a black background. Mosaicists skillfully created the illusion of a three-dimensional ribbon which echoes the curves of the scrolling vine.

Two brilliantly coloured peacocks face a basket full of grapes. As these are the only peacocks around the entire border, the artist intended to highlight their importance. Like the basket of grapes, the peacocks could simply refer to the abundance and beauty of the natural world, but they were also symbolic for the ancients. In the Roman world peacocks were linked with immortality and eternal life, perhaps because they shed their tail feathers in winter and renewed them in the spring. Symmetrically paired peacocks and inhabited vines were adapted by the early Christians for use in their churches and tombs.

Floor mosaics are often found in grand rooms that served as reception and banqueting halls. Mosaic floors were inspired by textile designs. Floral and geometric "carpet" mosaics became very popular in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. The composition of an elaborate border surrounding a simple repeating pattern, such as scattered roses, was flexible and could be applied to rooms of all shapes and sizes.

Picture
Title: Roman Art - Floor mosaic, 5-6th century, AD. Order No.: A1-1762. Location: Antioch (Worcester Art Museum, MA).

Islamic Geometric Design and Architectural Details 

Picture
Title: West Wall of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, late 8th century. Geometric composition of windows and Islamic Arches. Order No.: A1-5955 Location: Cordoba, Spain
Picture
Title: Early Islamic Horseshoe Arches, Medina Azzara, First Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba, 10th century. Order No.: A1-6225 Location: near Cordoba, Spain

Picture
Title: Geometric Decorative Tile, 14th century. Order No.: A1-4918.
Prohibited by religious strictures from creating representational art, Muslim artists relied heavily on abstract patterns. Geometry, in particular, provided craftsmen with a fertile source of designs. 

In the tile mosaic shown here, the artist started with the 12-pointed star in the centre of the panel, which is about five inches in diameter and is made of white tile inlaid with on continuous, delicately carved piece of black tile; it is regarded at the finest example of inlaid ceramic art in the Alhambra. 

By extending patterns from the star, the artist was able to generate the rest of his design, and by a careful arrangement of straight lines, he created figures that give the brilliant illustration of star shapes, circles and curves.

LEFT: Detail of a glazed ceramic geometric composition from the Alhambra, Granada, Spain

Picture
Title: Iranian Wall Tile, 14th century. RN: A1-3308.
A Timurid tile panel (14th to 15th century) from Central Asia. The geometric composition has been skilfully designed, combining different sixfold patterns so that its design elements, such as the stars and hexagons, work together with the survey components in the tile panel. 

All images taken in museums (marked by "RN") are not for sale and are for educational purposes only


Architectural Wall Tiles

In the Middle East, tilework was originally developed as a decorative cladding for brick structures. By 1160, it was in use in Turkey, where tiles were later applied to stone buildings using mortar. The most accomplished type had colourful design painted on a brilliant white background. These were produced in the town of Iznik from about 1550.

Wall Tiles from Turkey - Iznik style


Picture
Title: Iznik Calligraphy. RN: A1-0818. Location: Peabody Museum, PA
Picture
Title: Iznik Tiles, Fritware, underglaze. RN: A1-7093.

Picture
Iznik Tiles, Ottoman.. Order No.: A1-0857. Location: Rustem Pasa Cami, Istanbul
Picture
Title: Iznik Tiles, Ottoman. Order No.: A1-0839. Location: Rustem Pasa Cami, Istanbul.

Picture
Title: Ottoman Tulip Tiles, Order No.: A1-0823, Country: Turkey

Picture
Title Iznik Tiles, Rose and Floral motifs. Order No.: A1-7108. Location: Turkey

Picture
Title: Iznik Wall Tiles, Niche. Order No.: A1-0821. Location: Rustem Pasa Cemi, Istanbul.
Picture
Title: Religious Iznik Tile. Depictions of sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina, 17th century. RN: A1-7098.

An illustrative book was produced for the exhibition on ​The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 25 January - 17 May 1987.

The reign of Sultan Suleyman 1 (1520-1566) marked the zenith of Ottoman political and economic power as well as the golden age of Turkish art and architecture. Suleyman was the tenth ruler of the house of Osman, the sultan who founded the Ottoman dynasty in northwestern Anatolia around 1300. Osman's descendants expanded into western Asia, eastern Europe, and northern Africa and established a powerful state. During his  forty-six-year reign Suleyman double the territories of his realm, extending its boundaries from Iran to Austria.
Picture
Book Cover: The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, 1987.
Picture
Ottoman Calligraphy

PictureTitle: Iznik Tile, Topkapi, 16th century. Order No.: A1-0981
On the Tulip

The tulip is an exceptional flower that has accompanied the Turks during their migrations from Central Asia through to Anatolia, whence it has spread to Europe. This survivor adapts to every imaginable condition; it trives on arid rocky hillsides, mountains and meadows. Its distinctive, graceful lines make it perfectly suited to design and pattern creation, be it bud or full bloom. In the 16th century Ottoman art world, roses and tulips came to symbolize beauty and love. Wild tulips were domesticated into countless new cultivars, the vanguard of the tall and slender perfection that is the Ottoman 'Istanbul' tulip emerged, and names were conferred upon these new varieties.


Picture
Title: Iznik Wall Tiles, 16th century. Order No.: A1-1012. Location: Topkapi, Istanbul
Picture
Title: Bronze Door and Tiles, Order No.: A1-1018, Country: Turkey

Picture
Title: Fountain Pavilion with Tiles, near the Hagia Sophia. Order No.: A1-0666. Location: Entrance to Topkapi, Istanbul.
Picture
Title: Courtyard of Suleymaniye Mosque. Order No.: A1-0724. Location: Istanbul

Picture
Title: Panel of Wall Tiles, Iznik, late period, 1660-70. RN: A1-3828 Location: V&A Museum, London
Picture
Title: Ottoman Iznik Tiles, Order No.: A1-0853, Country: Turkey


Persian - Iranian Tiles
Picture
Persian Calligraphy

Picture
Title: Tile Mosaic Panels, Late 1400, Isfahan, Safavid dynasty. Order No.: RN-9888. Location: Philadelphia Museum
Picture
Title:Kashan tile, Persian, 14thC. RN: A1-0817. Location: Peabody Musuem.

Picture
Title: Persian Wall Tile, c 1910. Order No.: A1-1055. Location: Hearst Castle, CA




Syria - Damascus Tiles

The Ottoman Empire extended into Syria, where its artistic expressions were adopted. Syrian potters could not achieve the brilliant red of Iznik, but their designs were often more robust. 

Picture
Title: Damascus Tile,Early 18th century. Order No.: A1-3082. Location: Syria
Picture
Title: Frieze of 6 Damascus Tiles, Early 18th Century. Order No.: A1-3023. Location: Syria


Tunis - North Africa

Picture
Title: Tunisian Tiles, Late 19th century, Qallaline. Order No.: RN-9886. Location: Philadephia Musuem

Tiles of Spain

Picture
Title: Hispanic-Moorish Tile, Carpet design. 15th century. Seville.
Picture
Title: The Leopard Hunt, Azulejo panel. Lisbon, 17th century. Polychrome faience tile. Order No.: A1-5549.

Picture
Title: Spanish Renaissance Tiles, 17th century, Seville. Order No.: A1-4952.
Picture
Title: Carpet style tile. Seville, 16th century. Order No.: A1-5623.


Tiles from Portugal

Picture
Allegorical Sea Figures, tile panel, 19th C. Order No.: A1-3195. Location: Portugal.
Picture
Title: Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Bucaco, tile panel, 19th C. Order No.: A1-3299. Location: Portugal

Picture
Title: Allegorical Sea Figure, Title Revetment. Order No.: A1-3344. Location: Bussaco Palace. Portugal

Picture
Title: Wall and staircase, c.1759. Portugal. Order No.: A1-2000
Picture
David Clendenning, at the end of his trip to Portugal & Spain, relaxing on a tile bench in Pasedo de la Alamedia, Malaga, 14 Dec 2017.

Ceramics and Tiles from England

Picture
Title: Majorica Style Garden Pot on stand, glazed earthenware). Minton, England, c1880. RN: A1-0839. Location: Peabody Museum.
Picture
Title: Majorica Style Garden Pot, glazed earthenware, c.1880, Minton, England. RN.: A1-0831. Location: Peabody Museum.

All images taken in museums (marked by "RN") are not for sale and are for educational purposes only

Pair of Majolica Jardinieres (Garden Pots) on Stands, early 1870s-1883
Minton Ceramics Manfuactory (established 1796)

Designer: Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-87)
English (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire)

Majolica, for which the English company of Minton was especially famous, appealed to Victorian taste with its bright colours, bold designs, and historical associations. Inspired by maiolica, tin-glazed earthenware of the Italian Renaissance, English majolica depended on a different manufacturing process that employed opaque coloured glazes and enamels. It was a practical material and was put to many uses in middle- and upper-class homes, sometimes as highly decorative containers for plants, like these impressive garden pots. As the popularity of majolica increased, Minton expanded their production into tablewares, figures, and ornaments, with prices to suit every budget.

Encaustic (meaning 'burnt in') Tiles


Picture
Three United Empire Loyalists Plaques, St. Alban's Loyalist Church, Adolphoustown, eastern Ontario. Minton encuastic tiles, England, c. mid-1900s.


Picture
Title: Encaustic Tiles with Fylfot. Order No.: A1-3179. Location: Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand.
These photo were taken two days before the devastating 2011 earthquake which levelled Christchurch, New Zealand and destroyed the cathedral.  

THE FYLFOT
The Fylfot or swastika is an ancient symbol which has been found in the ruins of Troy, Egypt, China and India. In the Sanskrit language svastika came from svasti, meaning property, from the belief that the symbol brought good luck. The fylfot was a favourite symbol of the Victorians. These encaustic (meaning 'burnt in') tiles were imported from England and the wall of the cathedral construction in 1885.
Picture
Title: Encaustic Tiles. Order No.: A1-3188. Location: Christchurch Cathedral.


The New World

Canada

Picture
Title: Terracotta Water Fountain, c.1916. Order No.: Aa1-1831. Location: Brockville, Ontario
Picture
Title: Terracotta Water Fountain, c1916. Order No.: A1-3077. Location: Brockville, ON

United States

Picture
Title: Morvarian Wall Tiles, c.1900 RN: A1-1638. Location: William Mercer's Doylestown Museum


Spanish Tradition in the U.S.
Picture
Title: Spanish Tiles Facade, c. 1905. Order No.: A1-0584. Location: Columbia Restaurant, Tampa Cigar District, 2019

Picture
Title: Vase with fruit and flowers, Spanish, c.1905. Order No.: A1-0594. Location: Columbia Restaurant, Tampa, Florida, 2019.

Cuba

Picture
Title: Map of Havana, Cuba, 17th century. Order No.: A1-1000. Location: Havana

Portfolio

  Themes

Architecture
Built Heritage
Botanicals
Gardens
Flora
Landscapes

Coming soon...
Cityscapes
Waterscapes
Patterns & Textures


North America

Canada
Atlantic Canada
Canadian Rockies
Ontario
Quebec

United States
New England
Southern States
Northern States

Cuba

Europe

Austria
Belgium
England
Latvia
France
 Germany
Scotland
Sweden
Turkey
Russia
Italy
Spain
​Cyprus
​


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613.562.0930

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