i materiali per pavimenti e rivestimenti le piastrelle ceramiche e

FLOORING AND WALL
COVERING MATERIALS
CERAMIC TILE AND
NATURAL STONE
I MATERIALI PER PAVIMENTI E
RIVESTIMENTI
LE PIASTRELLE CERAMICHE E LE
PIETRE NATURALI
A HISTORY OF CERAMIC
TILE
CENNI STORICI SULLE PIASTRELLE CERAMICHE
“Ciotola, statua, vaso o parato architettonico, la storia della
ceramica ha millenni di vita e di ricerche, di espressioni e d’amore,
è testimonianza della vita, del gusto e della presenza
dell’umanità sulla Terra. Per questo restiamo affascinati
dinanzi al capolavoro d’arte ceramica con cui i Babilonesi
decorarono la grande porta ed il viale di Ishtihar, a Babilonia;
così andiamo con amore alla ricerca dei più antichi reperti
decorativi su pareti e monumenti in Egitto, ove sin dal terzo
millennio a.C. eran già note coperture a mosaico di ceramica.
I mattoni a smalto della porta di Ishtihar a Babilonia risalgono
al 605-562 a.C., ed i manufatti achmenidi (la splendida
Teoria degli arcieri del palazzo di Susa) al V-IV secolo a.C. La
Cina, con le alte temperature con cui giunsero grès e porcellana
(1200/1350 gradi) dovette elaborare nuovi smalti e
nuovi fondenti duri. Qui l’uso di grandi lastre di semplice terracotta
è accertato sin dal periodo Han (206 a.C. - 270 d.C.).
Forse il parato ceramico iniziò nel VII secolo d.C., con riguardo
soprattutto al ricco tetto di tegole a smalto verde-blu e ricchi
acroteri figurati. Tra VIII e IX secolo si diffuse nel mondo
islamico una bella ceramica, forse imitazione, appunto, di
quella cinese. I Turchi selciukidi introdussero l’uso della grande
lastra di argilla magra sciamottata e due tecniche di rivestimento:
quella a mosaico di ceramica (lambrissage) e quella
a piastrelle, con un caratteristico parato per interni composto
“Bowls, statues, vases, architectural
decoration: the history of ceramics
goes back thousands of years, involves
extensive research and dedication, and
takes on different forms of expression.
It is a testimony of life, of personal
taste and the presence of humankind
on the earth. This is the reason why
we are fascinated by
the masterpiece of
ceramic art with which
the Babylonians decorated
the great gate
and the main street in
Ishtihar. We lovingly
seek out the most
ancient decorative findings
on walls and
monuments in Egypt,
where mosaics were a
well-known form of
wall covering as early
as the third millennium
B.C.. Glazed
bricks on the gate at
Ishtihar in Babylon date back to 605-
562 B.C., and Achaemenid products
(the splendid Archers’ Series in the
Susa Palace) to the 5th or 6th century
B.C. In China, with the high firing
temperatures that yielded stoneware
and porcelain (2192 - 2462 degrees),
new glazes and hard fluxes had to be
developed. Here it is certain that large
slabs of simple terracotta were used as
early the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-
270 A.D.).
Ceramic decoration may have had its
origin in the 7th century A.D.; in particular,
it is thought that the rich greenblue
glazed tile roof and figured acroters
were developed then. Between the
8th and the 9th century, beautiful
ceramics spread throughout the Islamic
world, perhaps imitations of Chinese
ceramics.
The Seljuk Turks introduced the use of
the large slab of “sciamottata” sandy
clay and two wall covering techniques:
ceramic mosaics
(lambrequin) and
ceramic tile covering,
the latter typically
used with a design for
interiors made up of
an eight-pointed star
and “pointed crosses”.
The Turks also
invented the reduction
lustre, of which
the Abbasids of
Samarra and the
Tulunids of Egypt
became important
producers. During
the Timuric period
(1387-1502) ceramic decoration for
architecture in Islamic countries
reached a peak; the city par excellence
may be said to have been
Samarkanda, which was completely
covered with glazed majolica tiles.
The earliest European glazes were
developed following the Islamic example,
and between the 13th and 14th
centuries majolica tiles contrasted with
the rough effect of brickwork on
church façades. With the Della
Robbias, during the 15th century ceramics
became an art, seen especially
on altarpieces and devotional altars.
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