Origin
Historically, man has desired to create living spaces
which were beautiful, durable, and user friendly.
With that in mind, ceramic tiles have been made by
man for 4000 years.
Beautiful tiled surfaces have been found in the oldest
pyramids, the ruins of babylon, and ancient ruins of
greek cities.
Decorative tile work was invented in the near east,
where it has enjoyed a longer popularity and
assumed a greater variety of design than anywhere else
in the world. During the islamic period, all methods
of tile decoration were brought to perfection in persia.
In Europe decorated tiles did not come into general use
outside Moorish Spain until the second half of the
12th century. The tile mosaics of Spain and Portugal,
the maiolica floor tiles of Renaissance Italy,
the faiences of antwerp, the development of tile iconography
in England and in the netherlands,
and the ceramic tiles of Germany are all prominent
landmarks in the history of ceramic tile.

Body technique
The technique of tile and its secrets of trade were
safely guarded and orally handed from father to son
and master to student, thus rarely have designs,
patterns and details of technique been documented
and few complete treatises exist on the art of tile work
in the past. Each tile was hand-formed and hand-painted,
thus each was a work of art in its own right.

Simply defined a ceramic tile is a tile made of clay.
Tiles were made by hand, in early days clay bricks
(made by flattening the clay and cutting pieces
into shape) were dried beneath the sun or baked.
Later the only mechanical aid was a wooden mould
carved in relief, which indented a pattern on the clay
slab. The slab was dried and the impression filed
with clay, which after further drying was shaved flat.
After the formation of the tile body,
ceramic tiles go through a firing process in a kiln
under very high heat to harden the tile body and
to create the surface glaze.
Historically an unglazed tile was fired once and a glazed tile was fired twice.
The first firing formed a tile body called a ‘bisque’.
the biscuit firing had the highest temperature at
1060 C that fixed the tiles for size and shape.
After glazing the tiles were lost fired at about 1020
- 1240 C. On glaze decoration was fired at 750 C,
just before the glaze began to melt.
The modern tile industry was advanced by reviving
the lost art of encaustic tile-making. The industry was
further revolutionized in the 1840s by the ‘dust-pressing’
method which consisted of compressing nearly dry clay
between two metal dies. Dust-pressing replaced
tile-making by hand with wet clay, and facilitated
mechanization of the tile-making industry.

Usage and Global Flow


Through the centuries, tile decoration was improved upon, as were methods of tile manufacture. For example, during the Islamic period, all methods of tile decoration were brought to perfection in Persia. Throughout the known world, in various countries and cities, ceramic tile production and decoration reached great heights.

Today, ceramic tile throughout the world is not hand-made or hand-painted for the most part. Automated manufacturing techniques are used and the human hand does not enter into the picture until it is time to install the tile. They are used in an almost infinite number of ways and you don't have to consider yourself wealthy to own them. In commercial buildings, where both beauty and durability are considerations, ceramic tiles will be found, particularly in lobby areas and restrooms.

In fact most modern houses throughout use Ceramic tiles for their bathrooms and kitchens and in every vital area of the premise. Ceramic tiles are also the choice of industry, where walls and floors must resist chemicals. And the Space Shuttle never leaves Earth without its protective jacket of high-tech, heat resistant tiles.