Moroccan Ceramics

For centuries, skilled hands of have turned clay into jars, vases, plates, and the famous tagine for which the dish is named. The pieces can be monochrome of multi-colored in patterns from contemporary to sophisticated arabesques. Each region has a distinctive influence on the colors and patterns used and the earth from which the clay is drawn. The most famous pottery is made in Fez where the most prized ceramics are embellished with gorgeous silver onlay. Fez’s ceramics are predominantly blue, brown, yellow, or green on white backgrounds. Meknes has become famous for its chrome green pottery. Sale specializes in decorative pottery with colored glazing. South and east of Marrakech, household pots and crockery are made with ochre-colored clay by skilled Berber craftsmen and women. Around Zagora, pottery has a green finish, celebrating the oases that provide relief from the rocky desert.

The earthen clay also is baked into tiles which are integral to Moroccan design. Ceramic tiles cover walls and floors of Moroccan homes to serve as a natural carpet and to keep houses cool in the summertime. Ceramic tiles also are the origin of the mosaics for which Morocco is famous. In ceramic cooperatives, visionary workers carve glazed tiles into geometric shapes that emerge into puzzle pieces used to create gorgeous mosaics. Each mosaic is unique in pattern and color, combining blue for sky, green for palms, ochre for earth. The pieces are placed by hand in reverse patterns that when inverted form tables, floors, and fountain walls. The most famous cooperatives are in Fez, when you can watch the entire process and see these elaborate patterns come alive before your eyes.