Tile Tunisia
The North Africa of Hollywood lingers in our minds. Bogart and Ingrid and what might have been, in “Casablanca.” George C. Scott recalling a previous life in “Patton”, Gary Cooper and the French Foreign Legion of “Beau Geste” and back to Bogart in the sand of “Sahara.” The Los Angeles Times said that ” ever since Rudolph Valentino’s nostrils flared and his dark eyes glistened in 1921’s “The Sheik,” Hollywood and movie audiences have been fascinated with North Africa.” But inside all that mood and atmosphere there always existed an ancient world, such as the Tile Tunisia aspect, that helped define current civilization. Today we will examine a bit of Tunisian artistry.
via WikiCommons
Situated in the cradle of the Pan-Mediterranean world that spawned Western Civilization, the history of Tunisia is one of change. In fact, the rulers and occupiers of this land reads like a Rolodex of history. Berbers, Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Bedouins, Ottomans and French all strutted and fretted their “hour upon the stage” that was Tunisia. According to our friends at Wikipedia, Tunisian skills in ceramics and pottery that were “developed and practiced for many centuries under the prior Phoenician-derived, urban culture”, were extended into the Roman period. Furthermore, “ceramics were also crafted into various statuettes of animals, humans, and gods“ and pottery “complemented the local production of olive oil” as a vessel to hold it for transport known as the amphora.
Mosaics were a lively art form, again per Wikipedia, “plaques showing biblical scenes were designed and made for the churches.” Hand cut mosaics were a strong component of this medium as shown in the mural above.
Today, our friends at Country Floors are proud to bring this cultural heritage to the market place with, Baba Chic, an eclectic collection of limestone and marble. We were able to interview the Tunisian artisans who craft this product and were told that, “stone work has been a tradition for centuries in Tunisia, and especially in areas of Roman influence”, and that “from mountain to mountain and quarry to quarry, we choose the stones“. Then, “we cut the collected stones into small slabs” and “we draw all the parts that will complete a design of an individual piece.” From there, the process adheres to the classic Roman traditions of hand cutting and finishing that still resonate with the luxury stone and tile client in 2017!
BabaChic via Country Floors
Muted color values can often times serve to accentuate patterning. Now consider that these can be both residential and commercial interior floor solutions and you see the elegant simplicity of Baba Chic in practical terms.
via Country Floors
There are Country Floors locations all over America. Allow their teams to help you to pair Hollywood dreams with Tunisian artistry and fulfill your design plans for 2017! Thanks for reading. I can be reached via text at 305.986.1046.
