Villa Lagoon Tile | Mosaic Cement Tile
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History of Encaustic Cement Tile
1890 mosaico hidráulico. granito Portugal
Some say that in Europe, the first hydraulic presses for making encaustic cement tiles were installed close to 1850 at Viviers on the embankments of the Rhône, alongside the first cement works in France. I read that "from there, the outstanding durability and esthetics of this new floor covering led to rapid development from Lyon to Marseilles where workshops were set up everywhere".
But....
The unusual pictorial book, Barcelona Tile Designs says that the first reference to encaustic cement tile is from the factory Butsems i Companyia in 1857. At the 1867 Paris Universal Exposition hydraulic (encaustic cement tiles) tiles were exhibited by Garret, Rivet i Compania of Barcelona. Later, Orsola, Sola y Compania popularized the encaustic cement tile in Barcelona. They had more modern machinery and the capacity for mass production. Another company was established in 1886, Escofet, Fortuny i Companyia, which was known for its innovative Art Nouveau styled designs. This company had rapid expansion throughout Spain and Latin America.
See Rosa Pomar's photo slideshow of old hidraulic cement tiles.
Even though 'mosaicos hidralico' as they are known in many places have been and are still used extensively all over the world, in the U.S.A. they are relatively unknown. Even the recent comprehensive books on tile totally ignore this entire category. The only books that seem to acknowledge the encaustic cement tile are pictorial books about Havana, Cuba, other Latin countries, ... and the architecture of Europe.
La Maison du Village- Saint Rémy de Provence
India has a region that is famous for this type of floor tile. Since the manufacturing of the encaustic cement tile does not require fueled heat, as the firing of a ceramic or porcelain tile does, it is possible for tile-making to be located in remote and rustic areas . Occasionally you see the tiles referred to as 'rusticos'. In the Miami area our tiles are called "Cuban Tile". In Italy this type of tile seems to be referred to as pavimenti in graniglia even tho this term also applies to some terrazzo like tiles. Also in Italy I see encaustic cement tile called Cementine altho the word in not in broad usage perhaps and Pastina or Pasta Tiles. To the Manilans this type of tile is known as Malaga, and called simply cement tile (carrelages du ciment) in France and Belgium.
Until the 1920's, colorful mosaico encaustic tiles were considered high-end ultimate flooring that decorated the palaces of the Tsars, the mansions of the Côte d'Azure, Gaudi's Barcelona and Berlin's official buildings. Later on, the encaustic cement tile expanded as a creative and durable flooring all over Europe, and the French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Around the 1950's the mosaic hydraulic lost importance and was replaced by less labor intensive, and less colorful floors. The beginning of this century, the trend for authentic products and 'green' flooring has brought attention back to the encaustic cement tile. Recent storms along the Gulf Coast have raised awareness of durable, waterproof architecture. We hope to spread the word. We have first hand knowledge of the need for sensible flooring along coastal U.S. Additionally, this type of tile flooring is perfect for high traffic areas and any place where discriminating people gather.
It has never been possible to create an industrialized product that can substitute this handmade tile. The variety of colors, the matt finish and the soft silky texture are characteristics that make this tile absolutely unique. It is very important to note that no two tiles are exactly alike.
Encaustic cement is flooring with character, of great quality, outstanding for its clear, bright finishes, excellent ageing process, elegance and nobility.
Check these antique tiles from Imelda's Blog from Singapore . According to the home owner, the tiles were already there when her father was born in 1922. She was told that the tiles have been there since late 1800s. Look at the sheen and the brilliant colors.
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See Old Cuban Tiles & PhotosSee Antique Cement Tiles PhotosSee Antique French and Belguim Floor Tile |
New Uses--Old Tiles
Benedicte Bodard collects hydraulic tiles from dumpsters of apts being remodeled. She gives them a new life, a second chance as elegant table tops. See them at her blog: mesabonita.blogspot.com
How We Make Our Tiles
The tile maker creates a three part layered stack in a (usually) square mold. A sectioned pattern die is placed in the bottom of the open mold. Manufacturers put the color in the various sections first and them back the tile with other layers of cement products. The liquid color material is composed of ground marble dust, fine white Portland cement, and natural earth pigment. The stacked concrete tile layers are pressed using a hydraulic press and then removed from the mold. Generally the biscuit-like tiles are placed in a rack and submerged in water to allow the correct moisture necessary for the chemical reaction in concrete. The tiles are removed from the water, allowed to dry and stacked and allowed to age for some period of time for curing to achieve adequate hardness before shipment.
The end result is a tile that is about 5/8ths inch thick and quite heavy. The top side is the mosaic type design and backing that layer is a grey concrete layer for strength.
The design layer is about ¼" thick, giving the tile a great surface life, able to withstand all weather conditions and decades of traffic. Encaustic cement tiles can be found in many historic homes and public buildings throughout the world. Traditional cement tile is often used as ornamental motifs similar to carpets, bordered rubs, tapestries or mosaics.
See a fascinating short video taken by Richard "Le" Flan of another mosaic cement tile operation in A-C-T-I-O-N in Moroccan holy village of Moulay Idriss.
This is from a Richard "Le" Flan blog entry I ran across online. See all his great photos and read his description of the process..
I hope to be able to go take my own photos of our tile being made in Oct. 2008.
A very nice French web page gives (in English) the history of the kiln-fired ceramic encaustic tile as well as info on carreaux de ciments tiles, the cement encaustic tiles, similar to our tiles. The Antique Floor Company.
Many terms are used to refer to what we generally call Encaustic Cement Tile: Cement Tiles also called Cement Tiles, Hydraulic Floor Tile, Encaustic Tiles, Hidraulico, Hydraulic Tiles, Ladrilhos Hidráulicos, Carreaux de Ciments, Spanish Mission Tiles, Redondo Tile, Rajoles Hidràuliques, Baldosas Hidráulicas, Pasta Potosi, Mosaicos Hidralicos, also occasionally called incrusted motif tiles.
This link has good pictures to show how encaustic cement / marble dust tiles are made.
Manufacturers of Encaustic Cement Tiles Around the World:
Argentina:
www.companiadepisos.com.ar since 1896
I think there must be many more in Argentina...
Bali:
http://www.sadustiles.com/ a beautiful palette.
Belgium:
Emery et Cie--http://www.emeryetcie.com/en/ Very Special !!! A MUST SEE SITE.
Westvlaamse Steencentrale they sell tegels, which is cement floor tiles I think.
Brazil:
Brazil has many manufacturers of encaustic cement tile. In Brazil mosaicos hidráulicos are also called "Ladrilhos de água".
http://www.hibrasil.biz/tiles/story.htm
http://www.ladrilhosaltense.com.br/
www.ornatos.com.br
www.dallepiagge.com.br
www.br-imperial.com.br
www.ladrilhosartesanais.com.br
www.casafranceza.com.br
www.ladrilart.com.br
www.ladrilhosaltense.com.br
www.portaldaspedras.ind.br
www.gaudiladrilhoshidraulicos.com.br
www.hibrasil.biz/tiles
www.ladril.com
www.adagostini.com.br
Imprec Preblok--- http://www.prebloc.com.br/index.php?id_pagina=107&f=
www.ladriminas.com.br
Dalle Piagge armazemceramico http://www.armazemceramico.com.br/dallepiagge.php
Azulejos Antigos http://www.azulejosantigos.com.br/hidraulicos/florais/index.htm
Cambodia:
Tuol Sleng Tiles Handicraft (owner- Phoam Phalla) on street 360, near the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Canary Islands:
http://www.la-palma.de/artecuadrado/werkstatt.htm La Palma, Canary Islands...artsy tiles, site in German
Chile:
Costa Rica:
1. Mosaico Doninelli S.A. Mosaic Doninelli SA, Desamp, San Jose
2. Fabrica de Terrazos Escama y Alvarez Ltda. Fabrica de Terrazos scale and Alvarez Ltda., Sn Fco de Dos Ríos, San Jose
3. Fabrica de Terrazos Costa Rica Escama & Alvarez Ltda. Fabrica de Costa Rica Terrazos Luska Alvarez & Ltda.Sn Fco de Dos Ríos, San Jose
4. Fabrica de Terrazo y Paladiana Oscar Solera Fabrica de Terrazo and Paladiana Oscar Solera, San Miguel Desamp
5. Fabrica de Terrazo y Mosaicos Don Bosco S.A. Fabrica de Terrazo and Mosaics Don Bosco HS, Tejar El Guarco, CARTAGO
6. Fabrica de Mosaico y Terrazo El Castillo Manufactures of Mosaic and Terrazo Castle, Bo Sn José Alajuela, Alajuela
7.Solobloc, Apdo 90-2250, Tres Rios, Costa Rica
8. Pisos Honey Telefono : (506) 441-3944, 1 km Oeste Aerop Juan Santamaría, Autopista Bernardo Soto, San José, Costa Rica
9. Pavimientos Creta S.A., Telefono : (506) 4282-2873, Fax : (506) 282-2873, Celular : (506) 396-6608
Santa Ana - Brazil de Mora, San José, Costa Rica
Mosaicos Doninelli, Telefono : (506) 250-6070, Fax : (506) 259-3333, Apdo 5287-1000, San José, Costa Rica
10. Mejías, Telefono : (506) 433-8696, Fax : (506) 433-8696, 100 m norte del club de Leones, Barrio San José, Alajuela, Costa Rica
11. Maca, Telefono : (506) 237-2882, Fax : (506) 237-6966, Apdo 122-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica
12. Decantera, Telefono : (506) 203-3690, TeleFax : (506) 282-7654, Centro Comercial Tejas del Sol, 500 m Este de la Cruz Roja, Santa Ana - Costa Rica
13. Castillo (el), Telefono : (506) 433-8110, Fax : (506) 433-3813, Pedidos : (506) 380-2825
14. Barrio San José de Alajuela de la Iglesia, 100 m al oeste, Alajuela, Costa Rica
15. Alajuelense (la) Telefono : (506) 244-0809, Fax : (506) 244-0809, Santo Tomás de Santo Domingo de Heredia, 100 m al este de la Iglesia, San José, Costa Rica
Dominican Republic:
Aguayo, the manufacturer in the Dominican Republic that exports to the U.S. thru a FL wholesale distributor, has a Flash website that is a bit of a pain to use. This company makes concrete items other than the floor tiles, so I am putting the direct click to the flooring part of their site here. Their primary offerings are in The Cuban Heritage Collection, a group of floor tile designs based on antique floors in Cuba. The pdf brochure shows some photos of the original floor tiles on which the collection is based. It is a nice start to learning about these wonderful tiles and floors. http://www.aguayo.com.do/aguayoen.html Cuban Heritage Tile Brochure www.CubanHeritageCollection.com
France:
www.carocim.com
http://www.lesterrescuites.com/carreauciment/intro.htm
www.mosaika-creation.com
www.139inclusions.free.fr
www.couleurs-et-matieres.fr pdf catalog
www.carocim.com
www.antiques-forain.com
Germany:
VIA Finest Tiles-- http://www.zementmosaikplatten.de
Greece:
For three million Euros you can buy a whole cement tile manufacturing plant it seems.
India:
http://www.royaltiles.com/boutique.htm
http://www.tilesforoutdoor.com/athangudi.htm
Indonesia:
http://www.yogyes.com/en/shopping/tile/diamond-baru-tile/
http://www.yogyes.com/en/yogyakarta-tourism-object/places-of-interest/pabrik-tegel-kunci/
Iran:
Siman Tile, 60 Nasibi St. -Valiasr St. -, Tehran, Tehran, Iran (Islamic Republic of)--according to the international trade website that lists them, "Siman Tile" produces high quality Cement Tiles in a diverse variety of designs,sizes and colors for any need and taste.
Italy:
www.recuperando.it many types of used and antique "Cementine Graniglia" tile, including cement tiles. Varies since it is antiques.
www.pisamarmi.com.it Unable to reach a website here, but it is mentioned by others.
www.pavimentisansone.it Paviment Sansone--A "Flash site" that has an English version. Has a design tool, but doesn't seem to work well w/ Firefox, try IE. They make Italian Cementine Tiles.
www.fogazzapavimenti.it--Fogazza Pavimenti --Graniglie E Cementine--
www.aganippe.com --Aganippe--Marble Gri- Aganippe is the master of colours, and its innumerable combinations gives the chance to adapt to custom orders.
www.pietranticaweb.it --Pietra Antica--suppliers of antique building materials. They offer "ancient pastina tiles" and "graniglia tiles", not usre exactly what the difference is. but it seems that the graniglia tiles are a type of patterned terrazzo tile.
Maó, Menorca:
Mexico:
Mosaicos La Peninsular --Merida,
- www.originalmissiontile.com
Fabrica de Mosaicos Santa Ines--Vera Cruz, website not working 2007. Carretera Transistmica 11 - - Cosoleacaque - VeraCruz
www.mosaicosartesanos.com
www.mosaicstorra.com
www.mosaicospino.com
La Ceiba Grafica in VeraCruz-- Mosaiquera , Classes in making Mosaicos.
Tangers, Morocco:
www.mosaicohidraulico.com also at www.artetciment.com
www.saharadesigns.com
Rajae Ouechkifi, Address: Abderrahman Kaouakibi, Tangier, Tangier, Morocco(Morocco)
The Netherlands:
http://www.castelo.com/ Arte do Cimento Castelo handmade Portuguese tiles- Loenen ad Vecht NL Handgemaakte Portugese tegels in honderden patronen en kleuren in Dutch. Wonderful photos in the gallery...look for little links tha seem to say more photos near bottom of the pages.
Nicaragua:
Peru:
www.azulima.pt (Not responding for me)
Philippines:
www.habitiles.com --Baldozas y Azulejos de Cemento. Lovely patterns, Islamic influenced patterns as well as antique tile designs from Spain and other European countries.
www.machucatile.com--oldest tile manufacturing business in the Philippines. Baldozas mosaicos made there are now known as Machuca Tile. The business was originally called Mosaicos Machuca. Traditional patterns and colors.
Portugal:
www.artevida.net
Lúcio José Oliveira Zagalo Telefone: 268081645 / 268322488 (Estremoz) Since 1941. http://www.estremozmarca.com
Flordavida Telefone: 268337540 \ 914847749 (Estremoz) http://www.estremozmarca.com
www.projecto-mosaico.com
www.azulejosantigos.com.br
www.azulima.pt/mosaico_hidraulico.htm--A re-seller of mosaico hidraulicos
www.studiofirma.com artesanalmente
http://www.fabricademosaicos.com.br/html/portugues/mainpor.htm
Spain:
www.abacoarte.com
www.mosaicohidraulico.com
www.huguetmallorca.com Rajoles hidràuliques. Baldosas hidráulicas.
www.mosaicstorra.com
www.mosaicdecor.net also www.mosaicdelsur.com
www.pulidosbarcino.com A company who specializes in restoring and polishing hydraulic tiles.
www.terrazosaljarafe.com
www.ludivall.com
www.andaluciamosaic.net
www.balarmoca.com
www.talcomoera.com
www.mosaics.es
www.pulidoscatalonia.com
http://www.azulima.pt
http://www.terrazosaljarafe.com/
http://www.solmosaicos.com ,
http://www.pulidosbaquedano.es/ restoration, maintenance .
www.mosaicoshidraulicos.com
Turkey
EROL TAYMAZ Cement Tiles--no main website located, mentioned in several world trade category sites.
Vietnam:
Dong Tam Tiles Company
www.couleurs-et-matieres.fr pdf catalog .
www.secoin.vn
Books About Cement Encaustic Tiles for inspiration:
Barcelona Tile Designs by Mario Arturo Hernandez Navarro . Portarricense graphic designer, trained in the USA, a researcher of the hydraulic design of pavements. A fabulous little book, full of graphic representations of mosaicos hidralico tiles and floor layouts. Comes with a CD. Order Online.
Havana Tile Design and CD for graphic artists and researchers. Will be similar to above book, this is due out later this year, you can pre-order. Order Online.
We received this kind note, May 2008,
I just want to thank you for you web page. I am the author of Barcelona Tile Designs and Havana Tile Designs and it was a big thrill to do a Google search on tiles and find your page and with my books in it. Your page is an excellent source for further research.
Thanks a lot again!
Kind regards
Mario Arturo
Worldwide Encaustic Tile Information
A large collection of photos of concrete tile floors, see as a cement tile floor slideshow.
A discussion & photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/mosaico_hidraulico/discuss/72157603679516312/
Photos on Flicker http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosapomar/sets/72157603593890933/
A good article on Miamisn Blog about Cuban Tile
Baldozas y Azulejos de Cemento