[Lisboa] Tiles / Azulejos

Solar, a nearly 60-year-old tile specialist and antique dealer.

Is there a bluer country than Portugal?
The blue sky and Atlantic Ocean embrace the land.
The blue moods of Fado, the melancholy folk music, form the national soundtrack.
And all across Portugal, the typically blue designs of azulejos — ceramic tiles — are spread across churches, monasteries, castles, palaces, university halls, parks, train stations, hotel lobbies and apartment facades. The result is an embellished land of Christian saints, biblical episodes, Portuguese kings, historical glories, pastoral idylls, aristocrats at leisure, landscapes, seascapes, floral designs and, above all, geometric motifs.

Thousands of specimens, from the 15th century to the 1930s, fill Solar a nearly 60-year-old Lisbon tile specialist and antique dealer. (Solar Antique Tiles, a newer showroom in New York City, is run by a family member.)

Stacks of tiles and hanging panels embody historical styles such as Hispano-Moorish, Renaissance, Baroque, neo-Classical, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Blue and white are the star colors, though yellow, green, brown and other hues sometimes play supporting roles.

Simple, small individual decorative tiles start at 20 euros ($24) for 18th-century varieties and 8 euros for 19th-century examples. Be prepared to pay 50 euros or more for 17th-century tiles and at least 100 euros for those from the 16th century.

One marquee name in stock is Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, a celebrated 19th-century illustrator and ceramist whose work has been collected by the British Museum. A dazzling neo-Moorish geometric pattern explodes in a kaleidoscope of blue, white, emerald and caramel shapes across four tiles (90 euros a tile).

Collectors might consider rarities like an 18th-century 56-tile panel, originally in an aristocratic lady’s dressing room, depicting a trompe l’oeil mirror in which a noblewoman can be seen gazing into a looking glass held by her attendant. The cost is 9,300 euros. Palace not included.

SETH SHERWOOD

Source: THE NEW YORK TIMES (Travel section’s Oct. 19 issue on Europe) 12 Treasures of Europe

E tenho a sorte de ter nascido e vivido na cidade museu do azulejo, Ovar.

De acordo com o artigo referenciado no primeiro post foram considerados um dos 12 tesouros da Europa.