Zellige is mosaic tilework made from individually chiseled geometric tiles set into a plaster base. This form of Islamic art is one of the main characteristics of Moroccan architecture. It consists of geometrically patterned mosaics, used to ornament walls, ceilings, fountains, floors, pools and tables. The Moroccan traditional patterns and styles are found inside famous buildings such as Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, the Ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakech, and the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, which adds a new color palette with traditional designs.
Back in the 14th century, the wealthy rushed to decorate their homes with zillige as a statement of affluence. The practice is very much still alive today. Those who can afford to do so will commission mosaictile designs for their homes or public buildings. The commissioning process involves enlisting the services of a group of highly skilled crafts people who create individual ceramic pieces that are glazed, cut, painted and ultimately placed within a larger broader design.
Moroccan pottery and mosaic are visually intense, their designs complex, yet also ordered and repetitive. It is this repetitive pattern on a large scale that particularly draws me in, and I find parallels with the repetitive patterning that is the stitched needlepoint tapestry. I am also curiously attracted to the imperfections of ageing and chipped individual Moroccan mosaic tiles. They represent the longevity of the centuries-old tradition that is Moroccan mosaic making. To me, they also represent nature’s imperfections.
Although inspired by Roman mosaics, Moroccan mosaic designs only ever form abstract patterns, never representing images of living things. Their designs have roots in pre-Islamic Berber culture of North Africa, which influenced the straight lines and hard edges, and have also been heavily influenced by Moorish architecture and design from Spain.
The colour palette has changed over time from simple, earthy shades of brown and white in the 11th century, to a broader colour palette that included yellows, greens and blues and in more recent times, turquoise. The relatively modern Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (built in 1993) boasts eye-popping panels of turquoise mosaics.
