It might make you gasp with surprise or roll your eyes in despair but mosaics are currently enchanting and embellishing our most prized spaces. And to be honest, they never went out of fashion as a sprightly and ancient tool of interior décor. “Almost anything is possible [with mosaics],” says Mathijs Goorhuis, marketing manager at Rock and Royal the newly established high-end mosaic and chandeliers company in The Netherlands which appropriately launched its product range at the Cannes Millionaire Fair in September 2006.
They are also flexible enough to use anywhere “Mosaics can be placed on the walls, floors, table tops as well as pools. People are actually choosing them over rugs and paintings,” he insists. Rock and Royal’s artist Arno Coenen uses digital imaging in creating his designs where every mosaic tile represents a pixel. A lion’s head including golden majestic mane made gold can cost up to 3,000 USD per square metre though the Dutch company tends to use the more cost effective glass tiles.
Some experts believe that the mosaic –tiny random pieces of stone, ceramic and more recently glass depicting a picture or pattern – first became an artistic form of expression in this region close to four thousand years ago when artisans used terracotta cones pushed head first into the ground as a primordial method. In the eight century, unstructured pebble patterned pavements began to spring up. But it was under the Greeks in fifth century BC that mosaics flourished.
“Mosaics became prominent during the Hellenic period when craftsmen created descriptive pieces to reflect their lives and traditions. It then took further prominence during the Phoenicians and that’s why you’ll find them at major excavations sites throughout the country,” depicts Edmond Boutros, owner of Mosaic Orient who was commissioned to present a colossal portrait of tenor Luciano Pavarotti when he sang in the Lebanese capital in 1999. Boutros points to the Lebanese southern city of Echmoun as a surviving example of a so-called mosaic city.
For those that remain sceptical about the popularity of the product, Boutros’ sales figures and number of factories are a testament to the contrary. In one year alone, the classical mosaic designer turned entrepreneur dispenses of about 10,000 mosaics (only 20 of which are ready made) and he owns major factories in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. Moreover, his business has been steadily growing since he first opened in 1987. A government from the region has recently commissioned his firm to create the largest mosaic in the world. Boutros won’t reveal who it is but confirms that for once it isn’t the UAE. A work created by Mosaic Orient can run from between 250 USD and 500 USD per square metre largely due to the relatively low cost of the stones.
There are those who cringe at the idea of having a stone-like brazen Poseidon, eye brows knotted, his trident held firmly and threateningly in hand, fin curled in contempt glaring at us from the darkest depths of our pools. And understandably so. Mosaics are often seen as a somewhat kitsch form of decoration or as fresco-type depictions of Biblical saints and personas throughout churches along the northern Mediterranean coast. One of the longest lasting throwbacks from the artistically invigorating days of the Byzantines Empire, no doubt.
But new methods are being incorporated into the ancient art thus bringing mosaics into the 21st century. While stone and ceramics are still two materials of choice, companies like Rock and Royal and the Dubai-based Purity are using a more modern concept in their approach, generally preferring to use coloured glass to its more stoic counterpart. “Tastes in the region vary,” expatiates Gianni Sharrouf, business development and marketing manager at the three-year-old luxury kitchen and bathroom designer tiling company. “But the general rule is that people like to see colours around them as well as in mosaics. In the GCC, for instance, our clientele request beiges and blues in imitation of the landscape around them.”
And for that you need to have a plethora of different hues and shades, something that Mother Nature’s stones don’t offer but glass can. Purity as the name suggests specializes in a minimalist slant to mosaics and in doing so commission and import their tiles from a small company called Di Pû in the glass-making haven of Murano in Italy. As Sharrouf describes it, one of the most attractive aspects of the small workshop is that everything aside from the tracing of their shape (with a diamond head no less) is done by hand. “There are many companies out there that have a more factory feel to their products. What’s truly unique here is that being handmade, the tiles don’t lose their artistic appeal. They also have a special way of working the glass which remains a secret. It’s delicate work,” he says. According to Sharrouf, there are always three layers to a mosaic tile with all three or just two being of the same colour. Gold or platinum foils are placed in between to break any potential glare from incoming light reflections. Sometimes Di Pû incorporates a spaghetti-shaped tube to give further effect. Prices vary on the type of custom made tiles you order from Purity but they are known to be pretty elevated.
The beauty of mosaics is that you can make them into the image you want – even your own in the case of Rock and Royal and Mosaic Orient who have also been known to add gold bits as jewellery in undertaking portraits of their lady customers. They are also, despite conventional wisdom, a new and fresh way to brighten up a wall or a floor. Moreover, maintenance is as easy as applying soap and water to the colourful surface. And to all those mosaic detractors out there, Rock and Royal’s Goorhius sums it up well, “Perhaps the people who claim mosaics are outdated may also say that a painting is outdated. Both are very ancient art forms and both have made it quite elegantly into the 21st century.”
Contact
Mosaic Orient
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel +9614 533333
HYPERLINK "mailto:info@edmondboutros.com" info@edmondboutros.com
HYPERLINK "http://www.edmondboutros.com" www.edmondboutros.com
Purity General Trading Co
Dubai, UAE
Tel +9714 334 9772
HYPERLINK "mailto:info@purity.ae" info@purity.ae
HYPERLINK "http://www.purity.ae" www.purity.ae
Rock and Royal
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Tel +10 280 7171
HYPERLINK "mailto:Info@RockandRoyal.com" Info@RockandRoyal.com
HYPERLINK "http://www.RockandRoyal.com" www.RockandRoyal.com
