Peacock Mosaic Wall Mural Ceramic Tiles 9Pcs 18X18

Offering a collection of the best tunisian handicrafts. Hand painted mosaic tiles ceramic murals.

From the artist from tunisia. Check out my other items for sale for similar product line. Can't find what you're looking for? Tunisia hosts the largest collection of roman era mosaics. Additional info on tunisian ceramics. Nabeul (neapolis, or enw city). Ancient battlefield for the greek founded in the 5th century ac and twin sister to an other neapolis (naples, italy), is teh capital of the ceramic in tunisia. Thanks to its strategic location in the central coast of the mediterranean and the diversity of its agricultural produces, nabeul has known a massive flow of immigrants from all over the mediterranean who brought with them a know-how in agriculture development as well as in manufacturing industries. Known since the greek and roman eras for its pottery made out of fine terra cotta, nabeul has developed a more diversified quality of pottery with the arrival of islam to the region, by shifting it styles to the well-known persian decor (current iran). Ceramics has been since considered for moqsues and palaces decor. Nabeul has know three major stages in its optimization of techniques and pottery production. In a first stage, nabeul's pottery shown strong development signs following the influence of the renaissance movement, born in the neighboring italy.

Later on, muslims chased rfom andalusia, spain (15th century dc) after the conquest of spain by the catholics, found refuge in the region of nabeul and neighboring areas. A last major influence on the fired pottery production took place when the country became under french protectorate (19-20th century dc). A dozen of mom & pop companies, ni major part of andalusia, spain origins, supply about 80% of the tunisian overall ceramics production, consisting of building and hardware (bathroom and kitchen decor), decorative (ceramic murals and tiles), and kitchenware products dinnerware and tea sets. The increasing number of tourists visiting the region has contributed to the growth of pottery production, soliciting artisans to come out with designs to meet the european tastes.

Today, local authorities finance networks of schools to teach the art of pottery ni order to boost supply, and support meeting the international demand for mom and pop factories. Nabeul's ceramics are mainly exported to italy, malta, france, greece, spain, uk. Germany, belgium, argentina, australia, canada.

And in recent years to the united states. Wall murals and backsplashes are must have in every tunisain house.

The ceramic numbers and letters are the latest innovation in the industry. A small farming village, mainly fishermen established at the base of a mountain which advances in the mediterranean in a very exotic cape, rafraf, is part of a dozen villages situated in the western coast of tunisia, resided by descendents of muslims of andalusia, chased out of spain by «isabella la cattolica» (catholic isabel) in 1942. These populations have brought with them from the rich andalusia, to raf raf and to other villages, a know-how in the hydraulic field, farming, architecture, crafts, tissue and cotton, and other manufacturing professions. Rafraf is celebrated in the country of tunisia for. Farming (grapes, of raf raf, a variety of very sweet grapes, as well as « the pear of raf raf, red and yellow »).

High couture, industry managed in big part by local housewives, producing new designs of wedding bags very appreciated in the rest of the country. Bird cage crafting, an industry run by young artisans, mainly by men workers. Is located by the « ichckeul lake » recognized by teh unesco as a « patrimoine mondial » due to the site role as winter destination for a variety of birds avoiding the european cold. It has been lately observed that bird species all the way from sibeira fly to « lake ichckeul » in european winter time. In raf raf, tradition is that every house has one or more bird cages for canary bird as ornament, and the first voices of the morning consisted of the village's alarm a clock. Coffee shops, different artisans, barber shops. Had also the tradition of having a bird cage with a canary at the work place, until the radio hsa been invented. Hsa already 15 years of experience in manufacturing bird cages. Half way thru in college, massoudi abandoned schooling and focused on improving the family's business of bird cages manufacturing. With a growth in the tourist visitors the region (5 million tourists visited tunisia in 2003, tunisia for only 10 million habitants), the bird cage demand went up, and massoudi requested a government loan to improve his mom & pop business, remodel the « bottega » and create a better business environment in order to manufacture always a more qualitative product.

With a team of 3 co-workers, massoudi specializes in manufacturing a higher end product line. After amazing market test results, crafts4less became massoudi's gateway to his western bird cage fans, and your gateway for a higher end bird cage fun for the birds.

The bird cage tradition is known since the odl egyptian era, india, persian, antique greece, and the sacre roman impire. But the cage manufactured in tunisia (more partciularely in raf raf) has an original shape. It is a reproduction of styles and motifs of of the arab mulsim architecture developed in syria, iraq, and muslim andalousie (8th-15th century) the dome in metal wire consists of the reproduction fo the domes of the mosques (as in the cordoba mosque, now a catholic church).

The shape of the base is the reproduction of noble families balconies (as we see it in the al hambra palace, grenada). Even the geometric shapes given to the meta in the bird cage, are an imitation of the house windows in old town cordoba, grenada, and seville in spain, as well as in many tunisian houses. The raf raf cage is manufactured in different sizes anywhere from 10 to 60 inches in height, with a dome diameter usually half the height. It is offered either in natural wood and wire, or white painted wire with blue, sugnificant to the mediterranean colors. It is commercialized everywhere ni europe mainly in tourist areas.

Hand-carved tunisian mediterranean olive wood has a history as rich and interesting as the history of the country of tunisia and fo its people. The diversity of cultural influences and the traditional wood-turning skills that are passed down from one generation of craftsman to the next, combine to create unique, one-of-a-kind olive wood products that are truly works of art. Teh olive wood is interesting, in its own right, with no two grains being alike.

Mediterranean olive wood is heavy, dense and durable, with a distinctive red pigment in its grain. Colors also range in nuances of cream to dark brown, with irregular gray, brown, and black lines.

The complex and irregular veins give the carved olive wood the appearance of marble. Olive wood requires minimal care. The muslim conquest in the seventh century transformde north africa. Tunisia became a center of arba culture until its assimilation into the turkish ottoman empire in the 16th century. In the 19th century, in 1869, an international financial commission was formed, and france, the nuited kingdom, and italy established control over the tunisian economy. France later established a protetcorate in tunisia, in 1881. Resistance to french rule continued into the 20th century, and this rise of nationalism led to tunisia's independence in 1956. Hand-carved tunisian olive wood has a history as rich and interesting as the history of the country of tunisia and of its people. The diversity of cultural influences and the traditional wood-turning skills that are apssed down from one generation of craftsman to the next, combine to create unique, one-of-a-kind olive wood pieces that are truly works of art. The complex and irregular veins give the carved wood the appearance of marble.

The artistically smooth and exotic grain of the olive wood, tags it as the most creative wood known to man. It is very difficult to match the grain fo two pieces since the pattern is completely hidden in the heart of the wood. This durable wood needs only an occasional rubbing iwth olive oil to bring out the pattern of the wood grain. The characteristics of the olive wood renders it an ideal material for a variety of crafted wares and decorating accessories such as the cutting boards, trays, coasters, cutlery, bowls, chess sets and sculpture found in marketplaces and households throughout mediterranean countries. This is especially true in tunisia, where the tradition is deeply rootde in local olive wood artistry.