REPRODUCTIONS · Montería tiles · Seville 18th century

Baroque ceramics: from legendary porcelain to popular pottery

Decorated with a single motif within a circle, this type of tile originated in Italy in the 16th century, but it is  particularly developed in the 17th in the Netherlands, a country with an industry of mass production that allowed its wares to invade European market and reach Seville.

Accordingly, these tiles are also known as < Delft-style > tiles, in honor of the famous Dutch town where this type of pottery was produced.

The range of motifs produced in Seville is varied and anecdotal, and the possibilities for their application in architecture was great.

Important changes took place during the Baroque period: as a source of inspiration, tapestries were gradually replaced by religious painting and secular imaginery. A narrative spirit began to pervade tiles and tableware, wich were no longer luxury items but became popular objects, both in terms of their public and their style of decoration.

During the 18th century the production of glazed ceramics in Seville was reduced at Triana quarter, across the Guadalquivir river, where 82 workshops were censed in 1721.  It draws our attention the feeling of the lines, the life given to the figures both human or animal, the lightness and spontaneity for charting landscapes with buildings as capricious as improbable.

All their designs were taken from real daily life, floral and figurative patterns, hunting and fishing scenes, agriculture, bullfighting and any countryside life. Potters from Triana gave these designs and matters the name < Montería > so tiles and vases decorated with them are known to that denomination through time until our days.  The use for these tiles was reduced to small murals on kitchens, interior pantries or stair risers.

The ceramics we make as reproductions are hand-painted, taking care with the colour and finish thus obtaining an antique look.

 Our artists specialise in the recovery and use of old, traditional methods and have an extensive historical and artistic archive