Tessera - Contemporary Tessera

Contemporary Tessera

Vitreous Glass

These are manufactured glass tiles made to a uniform shape and size. They are made by molten glass being poured into trays and fired. An imprint of grooves is made on their underside for help with adhesion to cement when fixing.

Ceramic Tesserae

These are the cheapest range of bought materials and can be glazed or unglazed. The glazed ceramic tiles have the color painted onto the top of the clay and then fired to a high temperature in a kiln. The unglazed or body glazed version has the color mixed into the wet clay so the color runs through them. They vary in size.

Smalti

This is the classic mosaic material. It is opaque glass fired in large slabs in a kiln and then hand cut with a hammer and hardy(chisel) into small cubes. Their irregular finish makes them a wonderful reflector of light and this material is best used working straight into cement. It is produced in Venice and sold by colour and weight.

Gold Smalti

This tile is made with real gold and silver leaf sandwiched between two layers of glass and fired twice in the kiln to embed in the metal.

Mirror

Mirror adds great depth and sparkle to a mosaic. It is cheap as offcuts from a glass cutting shop are often free. Use mirror glue as this protects the silver on the back of the mirror.

Stained Glass

Known for its translucent qualities stained glass is also available in opaque form. It comes as large sheets that can be cut into smaller sections with a glasscutter. It can provide areas of larger tesserae pieces for variety and contrast.

Household Ceramic Tiles & China

Colours and surfaces are limitless and can add wonderful texture and contrast to mosaic work.