The Industrial Arts in Spain

by Juan F. Riaño

There is no difficulty in affirming that this form of earthenware was made at Toledo, for Marineo Siculo, in his interesting volume treating of "De las Cosas Memorables de España," Alcala, 1539, says, "much coarse green and white pottery is made at Toledo."

The manufacture of tiles, as was the case with so many other industries in Spain, was imported by the Arabs. In the Middle Ages it attained great importance, and has never ceased in Spain up to the present day. The earliest tiles (azulejos) made in Spain are composed of small pieces let into the wall, forming geometrical patterns. The proceeding is similar to that employed by the workers of Byzantine mosaic,—tile decoration undoubtedly took the place of this mosaic work in Moorish buildings. It is difficult to fix the precise period when they were first made, but it must have been posterior to the 10th century, when Moorish architecture underwent a radical change in its system of decoration. The oldest tiles which exist in Spain are at the Palace of the Alhambra, Granada. They belong to the 14th century. The great variety of their design may be seen in Owen Jones' "Plans and elevations of the Alhambra," London, fol. 1842, and the fine work published by the Spanish government, "Monumentos Arquitectonicos." We can judge of the style adopted by two interesting fragments, both of which came from the Alhambra, No. 1104-'53, No. 324-'64, South Kensington Museum.

The earliest mention which I have found of this manufacture occurs in a letter from Doña Juana de Mendoza, the wife of the Almirante de Castilla, which is addressed to the lady abbess of the nunnery of Santo Domingo at Toledo. She begs that a large number of "azulejos" of different colours, black, white, yellow, and green should be sent to her. She alludes, in the same letter, to painted tiles, and says she was expecting a master potter from Seville to place these tiles in their proper places. This shows us that it was only in the province of Andalusia that the art was known of cutting these tiles into geometrical sections and mosaic patterns. This letter is not dated, but it is bound up with other documents of 1422, and evidence exists to prove that both the Almirante and his wife were dead in 1431. The locality for which the tiles were required was probably Palencia; the convent of Santa Clara was built by them at that time, and they both were buried there. It was extremely difficult to cut and join together these tiles; the workmen who did so had to pass through a regular examination in compliance with the municipal ordinances drawn up in the 15th century; without this requisite they were not allowed to exercise their trade.

We know, from documents existing at the Archives of the Alhambra, at Granada, that tiles were made there at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century. We find the names of Antonio Tenorio, Gaspar Hernandez, and Pedro Tenorio working there at that time as master potters.

The use of these azulejos was not restricted to Moorish buildings; they were largely employed to decorate the walls of Christian churches, convents, palaces, and private houses. The style of work, however, soon changed, for instead of being made of mosaic work, they were formed of a single piece like the ordinary tiles, but imitating the Moorish colours. In the 16th century designs of the Renaissance style alternated with these, although the system and colouring continued the same. This style continued in vogue until the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1610. A fine collection may be seen at the South Kensington Museum of 200 tiles, in which upwards of 150 varieties of design will be found, Nos. 308-'66 and 367-'66. Their chief characteristic is that only pure colours are used without gradations or half tints. Lustred reflets are very seldom met with in tiles; the only examples I know are two beautiful plaques of the 14th century of a pale lustre which are on either side of the entrance door of the Moorish saloon called Cuarto Real de S^to. Domingo, at Granada; some small polygons of copper-coloured lustre at the Tower of la Cautiva, Granada: some few details in the coats of arms which are let into the tiles which adorn the walls of the Chapel at the Alhambra, and some few tiles with the arms of the Mendozas at the Casa de Pilatos, Seville.

A few dishes belong also to the 15th century, ornamented with the same colouring as the tiles without metallic lustre, and generally decorated with fantastic animals. They are very scarce. Two examples exist at the South Kensington Museum, Nos. 1459 and 1461-'70. They probably were made at Seville; all those I have seen come from there, and we know that the pottery from Seville was much esteemed. In Pedro de Medina's "Libro de Grandezas y Cosas Memorables de España," Sevilla, 1549, fol. Iii., he says, "In this town of Triana much excellent pottery of Malaga is made, coloured white and yellow, and of different sorts and kinds. This pottery is made in about fifty houses, and it is exported from here to many localities. In the same manner excellent azulejos are made, of great variety of colour and design. And likewise fine reliefs of men and other things. Great quantities of these azulejos are taken to different localities."

At the introduction of Italian forms of art in Spain, at the beginning of the 16th century, artistic pottery divided itself into two schools—one kept to the traditional designs and strong tones of colour, the other used shaded colours, and especially yellow and blue tints, at times imitating Italian maiolica, but always following the decoration characteristic of the Renaissance style.

The Italian influence, and its finest results in Spain may be favourably studied in Seville, in the tile decorations of the chapel at the Alcazar, the doorway of the convent of Santa Paula, and a remarkable sepulchre decorated with tiles at the church of St. Anne at Triana. All these tile decorations are signed by the same person, and it would be difficult to find any more remarkable.