A Short History of Ceramics in Spain _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The history of ceramic tiles dates back to 4,000 B.C. when in Egypt and Mesopotamia clay bricks were glazed in blue using copper. Later, new processes were created allowing a wider range of colours. In China white stoneware with early chinese glazing was produced during the Shang-Yin dynasty (1523-1028BC). Thoughout the following centuries tile decoration was improved as were methods of manufacture. During the Islamic period the methods of decoration were brought to perfection in Persia (Iran). The spread of Islam resulted in the spread of ceramic tile manufacturing throughout the known world. Early tiles were hand-made - i.e. each individual tile was formed by hand and hand-painted making each piece a work of art in its own right. Tiles were used everywhere - walls, floors, ceilings, and in murals. Ceramic tiles arrived in Spain with the Islamic conquest in the 11th Century. At that time Spain became a meeting place of many different cultures including the Tardoroman and Visigoth ceramic tradition, the technology and repertoire of Egypt and Mesopotamia, mixed with the Nordic and Mediteranean aesthetic values. Among the technologies that arrived with the Arabs in Spain, the most important were processes that created an impermeable glossy layer on the surface of the tile as well as providing a base for its decoration. These proceses included transparent or light-green lead-glazing, decoration on white engobe (a clay slip coating applied to a ceramic body) under a transparent glaze, and metallic highlights. These processes were already being done in the 11th century in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt. By the 12th century an important factory had been established in Spain at Malaga. By this time the application of golden facing as highlights was known in Spain and was applied to the one-base semi-spherical segement in the turret of the Great Mosque of Seville. This process was much admired and mentioned by El Idrisi when he passed through Calatayud in 1154. Pressure from the Christians in the 15th Century forced the factory to be transferred from Malaga to Manises. This move marked the beginning of the establishment of the Spanish tile industry along the Mediteranean strip where most Spanish tiles are still produced.
12th and 13th Century Arabesque Tiling The first samples of glazed ceramics in architecture in Spain dates to the end of the 12th Century. The techniques used are linked to Persian architecture and it is suspected that the families of potters who emigrated to Al Andalus following the invasion of Genghis Khan in Persia could have influenced the development of arabesque tiling in Spain. The use of tiled paving became customary in the south of Spain. Prior to 1240 AD Ibn Said referred to ceramic tiles made in  Andalusia used as facing on houses. He said: "it had a wide variety of colours and replaced the coloured marble used by the Orientals to embellish their homes.". Arabesque tiles became progressively more complex with meticulous geometric shapes as can be seen from the tiles that decorate some rooms in the AlHambra in Grenada.
14th Century Granada It was in the 14th and 15th Centuries that high levels of sophistication were reached in the arabesque tiling technique used in paving and  walls. Extremely specialised labour was required to perform this style of tiling and these specialists were a feature of the Grenada economy during this period. Fed by gold coming from Sudan, they exported their image as a courtly, aristocratic, and educated society with an acute sense of comfort.   15th Century Tiles from Manises for Europe, America, and the Orient During the Islamic era the areas surrounding Valencia were already an important ceramic producing region. Ceramics were distributed  throughout both the Christian and Muslim Mediteranean through the port of Valencia - the busiest port in the Mediteranean at that time. The Republic of Venice particularly favoured ceramics from Manises. Tiles from Manises were also used as far away as Liguria, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. Italy however was the most important client. In 1445-1457 Alfonso the Magnanimous ordered his palace, Castel Nuovo in Naples to be floored with tiles from Manises decorated with his coat of arms. Manises was also the main supplier of paving for the Papacy in Rome whose rooms it decorated during the 15th Century.
16th Century Seville Towards the year 1500 there was a slump in production in Manises and Grenada. Other cities by then were able to take over production - especially Seville and Toledo. These cities were the centre of a new production technique: the decoration of the main motif on the spongy square piece which made it easier to lay, and the appearance of the first mass production processes. These new techniques were highly successful and quickly took the Spanish, European and American markets. America in particular needed a cheaper product to enable export over a long distance. Tiles from Seville were also sold in Great Britain and furnished the Vatican rooms of Pope Leon X (1513-1521) and the San Angelo castle in Rome.  Later in the 17th and 18th centuries considerable changes took place causing strong fluctuations in the production centres. Subsequently in the 19th Century they entered a proto-industrial stage that resulted in the first printed catalogues and exhibition at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1888.
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