Tile types and patterns

001Alicatado star panel Alicatado is a mosaic of glazed ceramic cut into small geometric pieces and fitted together. The technique is Hispano-Moorish in origin and was in vogue in Portugal in the 16th and 17th centuries.

002Alicatado dado band Alicatado is made of monochrome glazed ceramic pieces cut into geometric shapes and grouped like a mosaic. Here the pieces form a band along the foot of a wall.

003Alicatado cut-piece detail Seen close up, each alicatado piece carries a single colour of glaze and is cut to fit its shape, set tight against its neighbours as in a mosaic.

004Corda seca tile In corda seca, a line containing a fatty substance and manganese, drawn before firing, keeps the glazes of different colours from running together, leaving a dark line between them.

005Corda seca line close-up Close up, the dark line of corda seca separates fields of differently coloured glaze and keeps each one distinct. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

006Corda seca border panel A small panel of corda seca tiles shows how the technique suits repeating motifs: bold outlines, flat colour fields and a border that frames the field like a woven edge. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

007Aresta tile In aresta tiles the design is pressed into soft clay with a mould, leaving small ridges that keep the coloured glazes apart. Tiles of this kind were made in Seville and reached Portugal in the early 16th century.

008Aresta ridge close-up Seen at a raking angle, the relief of an aresta tile shows the ridges that hold each glaze in place and stop it bleeding into the neighbouring colour.

009Aresta tile wall A wall of aresta tiles reads as a repeating net of colour. Because the ridges were pressed with a mould, aresta was a cheaper variant of corda seca.

010Majolica tile, 16th century From the mid-16th century, majolica reached Portugal: painting directly on an opaque white tin glaze, with Italian and Flemish influence. It allowed figures and free designs to be painted on the tile. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

011Polychrome majolica panel Sixteenth-century majolica panels are polychrome, using cobalt blue and manganese purple, among other colours, on the white glaze. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

012Tin glaze surface Tin glaze gives faience and azulejos a soft, opaque white. The painter works on the unfired glaze, which absorbs pigment at once, so a brushstroke is hard to correct.

013Tapete (carpet) panel In the 17th century, large groups of repeated tiles formed a polychrome pattern like a carpet, often with a wide border. They are called azulejos de tapete.

014Tapete corner detail In the corner of a tapete panel the field of repeated motifs meets the border. The fabric-like effect comes from repeating a few tile designs.

015Padrão tile pattern A padrão is a larger design made by repeating a group of tiles, which saved time when decorating large surfaces.

016Single patterned tile A single pattern tile is only part of the design: its edges are drawn so that, beside copies of itself, it forms the whole composition.

017Padrão corridor Pattern tiles can cover large surfaces such as corridors and stairways, where the repetition gives rhythm to the space. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

018Blue-and-white narrative panel From the late 17th century, the Ciclo dos Mestres brought large narrative panels in blue and white to churches and palaces.

019Painted figures close-up In narrative blue panels, small figures are built up with cobalt in several strengths, from pale tones for distances to darker ones for outlines. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

020Cobalt wash gradient The soft blue of a sky on a tile panel can come from a thin wash of cobalt. The raw glaze absorbs pigment quickly, so soft gradations need light, careful strokes. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

021Baroque panel border Baroque narrative panels often have painted frames with scrolls and shells, which set the scene within an architectural border. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

022Albarrada panel The albarrada is a motif of flowers in a jar, vase or bowl, sometimes flanked by birds or dolphins, found on Portuguese tiles from the 17th century.

023Pair of albarrada vases In the 18th century, vase motifs began to repeat as modules in tile panels. This illustration shows two vases in symmetry. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

024Painted vase close-up The vase gains volume through shading: light on one side, darker tones at the neck and foot, and few strokes for the flowers. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

025Grande Produção panel The Grande Produção names the great cycles of historiated panels with baroque frames, which peaked in the 18th century under King João V.

026Joanine period frame The Ciclo dos Mestres coincides with the reign of João V (1706-1750), so the style is also called Joanine. Its panels have baroque frames.

027Pombaline-era tiles After the 1755 earthquake, the rebuilding of Lisbon brought the sober, functional Pombaline tile: repeated patterns that were cheap and quick to apply.

02818th-century floral tile Some 18th-century pattern tiles repeat a sprig or bouquet of flowers on each piece. This illustration evokes that floral taste without copying a specific tile. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

029Manganese purple tile Manganese oxide gives tones from purple to dark brown. It is used for outlines and shading and, on some tiles, is the main colour of the design.

030Tiled façade From the 19th century, whole facades were covered in industrially made azulejos, above all in Lisbon and Porto.

031Weathered façade tile Facade tiles live outdoors, so sun, rain and salt can wear the glaze and open small cracks. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

032Yellow-tiled street In several Portuguese towns there are streets of houses faced with tiles of different patterns and colours, each facade with its own design. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

033Green relief tile Single-glaze relief tiles, green for example, appear on facades and friezes. The glaze pools in the hollows and darkens them, so the design shows through shadow. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

034Stencilled tile (estampilhado) In estampilhado, colour is brushed through a cut metal stencil, which repeats a design quickly. It is a semi-industrial technique used from the 19th century.

035Stencilling at the bench At the bench, the cut metal stencil is laid on the tile and the colour is brushed on, so the design repeats without being hand-painted each time.

036Transfer-printed tile On printed tiles the design is transferred by decal from an engraving, a semi-industrial method used from the 19th century, for example in Lisbon factories.

037Printed tile wall A wall of printed or stencilled tiles looks different from a hand-painted one: the design repeats with greater regularity. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

038Art Nouveau tile At the start of the 20th century Art Nouveau azulejos appeared, trading rigid repetition for plant motifs and curving lines.

039Art Nouveau frieze Narrow friezes of stylised leaves and flowers suited Art Nouveau interiors, running in a flowing band. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

040Art Nouveau house front On Art Nouveau buildings of the early 20th century, tile can appear with wrought iron and stucco in curving lines. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

041Art Deco tile Around 1930 Art Deco azulejos appeared, favouring geometry and flat colour: zigzags, fans and stepped shapes.

042Art Deco entrance hall Art Deco entrance halls may use tile in geometric dados to give order to the space. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

043Geometric deco wall A small wall of repeating deco tiles can read as one big pattern: when tiles are turned, circles and diamonds appear across the joints that are not obvious in a single tile. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

044Modernist abstract panel In the mid-20th century, tile returned in large abstract panels, such as those Maria Keil designed for the first Lisbon Metro stations (1957-1972). This image is only in that spirit.

045Modernist figurative mural Azulejos appear in almost every Lisbon Metro station. This image is an illustration in the spirit of such 20th-century murals.

046Modular modernist tiles Modern tile panels sometimes use plain square tiles arranged in a grid, with colour fields in gradation. The pattern lies in the arrangement, not in painting on each tile. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

047Pouncing the design To repeat a design, a card with a pricked outline was dusted with charcoal, leaving a dotted line on the tile for the painters to follow.

048Brush line in cobalt Cobalt on unfired tin glaze is absorbed at once, so a line cannot be corrected. The painter works with a loaded brush in a single movement.

049Unfired and fired side by side Pigments painted on raw glaze look dull and only show their final colour after firing, so painters must foresee the result.

050Craquelé close-up Craquelé (gretagem) is a network of fine cracks in a glaze, caused mainly by a mismatch between the thermal expansion of glaze and body.

051Crazed glaze on a wall On a whole wall, crazing shows as a fine web of lines in old glaze, which catches the light unevenly. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

052Tile edge profile The edge of a handmade tile has small irregularities: the glaze may roll over a slight bevel, and pieces differ a little in size. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

053Grout lines and joints The joints between old tiles are often narrow and slightly uneven, which reinforces the look of hand-laid walls. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

054Tile cross-section A broken tile shows its layers: the clay body, a layer of white tin glaze and, on top, the painted decoration. Clay colour varies from beige to pink. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

055Tile reverse The back of a tile is rough, often ridged, which helps the mortar grip. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

056Tiles in the kiln Painted tiles go into the kiln for a final firing that fuses the glaze and brings out the colours of pigments such as cobalt and manganese.

057Drying tiles on racks After painting, tiles dry before firing. Paint on raw glaze is fragile, so the pieces are handled with care. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

058Large azulejo wall, church interior Portuguese churches keep many extensive tile panels, covering the walls of nave and chancel. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

059Tiled garden wall In gardens and courtyards, tiled benches, fountains and walls bring colour and cool surfaces. Water, plants and glaze reflect each other under the strong light. General description; not confirmed to a single source.

060Green and yellow tiles Copper green and yellow appear on tiles of many periods, from 16th-century corda seca to 19th-century facades, often with white and blue. General description; not confirmed to a single source.