Design Sleuth: Glazed Hand-Cut Moroccan Tiles

Spotted, admired, coveted: Sam Roddick's kitchen in London, featuring a wall of glossy Moroccan tiles and a row of mercury-glass pendant lights.

Handmade by artisans using ancient techniques, glazed Moroccan tiles (known as zellige) are fashioned from organic regional clay and glaze pigments. Because they are hand cut, they feature a distinctive, imperfect profile, which enhances their rustic character and adds a note of exotica to kitchens, baths, fireplace surrounds. Below are a few ideas for sourcing the tiles.

Above: A kitchen in London by Stiff + Trevillion, featuring Emery et Cie tiles from Retrouvius. For similar lighting, see our post on Design Sleuth: Vintage X-Ray Lights.

Above: Blanc tiles by Emery et Cie.

Above: In New York, Mosaic House offers the R'Ceef 7 line of 12-inch square glazed ceramic tile in dozens of colors.

Above: In San Francisco, Tazi Designs carries hand-cut Moroccan Mosaic Tile (prices run approximately $200 per square meter). Photo via Agnes Ka on Flickr.

Above: Another SF source is the San Tropez Boutique, which carries a wide range of Glazed Moroccan Tiles. For a wood-fired version, Dar Interiors in London offers up Wood-Fired Moroccan Ceramic Tiles.

Above: Moroccan Mosaic Tiles at Badia Design in Los Angeles. See our post on LA's Moroccan Emporium: Badia Design.

N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on September 30, 2011.