V Ceramics in place · Plate 011
Tiled garden fountain
In Portuguese gardens, tanks, fountains and benches in tile bring the colour of glaze beside the colour of water.
Water and tile meet most clearly at the Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira in Lisbon. According to Portuguese Wikipedia, its Jardim Formal measures about 67 by 58 metres, with four boxwood parterres, twelve lead statues and a central fountain. The Tanque dos Cavaleiros, a lake of about 48 by 18 metres with three grottoes, carries tile panels of knights, the family's ancestors, and is the garden's central feature. The Galeria dos Reis pavilions use blue-and-white tiles showing military scenes and armour, and English Wikipedia names a fountain in the Kings Gallery.
The upper garden adds shade. The Jardim de Vénus, once a labyrinth, holds the Casa do Fresco, a small garden house lined with tiles and fragments of porcelain, which carries the arms of Madalena de Castro. Beside it the Tanque dos Ss has monkey and cat tiles. English Wikipedia also records that the Jardines del Prado in Talavera de la Reina were built in 1864 and that Barcelona's Font de Santa Anna dates from 1918. Together these show how tilework moved outdoors into gardens, where it faces damp every day rather than being kept in dry halls.
This is a general description, not confirmed to a single source.
Source: pt.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org
AI-generated illustration in the manner of the tradition, not a photograph of a specific object.
