5th Grade
Clay Tiles
Tiles are all around us for everyone to enjoy. They are used in churches and mosques, restaurants and shops, hospitals and homes. Tiles cover walls and floors, roofs and pavements, furniture and stoves. They are often combined with other forms of ceramics such as terracotta, faience and mosaic.
Tiles are the simplest form of ceramic art. The earliest known examples are Egyptian and from 4,000 BC. Through history, tiles were made by Assyrians, Babylonians and the Islamic Empire. Early tiles can be seen in Tunisia (c.9th), Kashan Iran (c.11th), and many middle-eastern mosques display Koranic scripts using highly colored relief tiles (c.12th onwards).
In the 13th and 14th centuries Europe's churches were paved with decorated tiles. Holland was an important center for tiles in the 17th and 18th centuries and in the 19th century Britain pioneered mass-produced tiles.
Tiles are the simplest form of ceramic art. The earliest known examples are Egyptian and from 4,000 BC. Through history, tiles were made by Assyrians, Babylonians and the Islamic Empire. Early tiles can be seen in Tunisia (c.9th), Kashan Iran (c.11th), and many middle-eastern mosques display Koranic scripts using highly colored relief tiles (c.12th onwards).
In the 13th and 14th centuries Europe's churches were paved with decorated tiles. Holland was an important center for tiles in the 17th and 18th centuries and in the 19th century Britain pioneered mass-produced tiles.