The magic of zellige is born from the hand of the craftsman, the maâlem. In the heart of his workshop, where time seems to stand still, skilled hands, driven by a deep love for this ancestral art, knead the clay, coat the tiles with paint, arrange them in kilns, cut the tiles to give them their final shape and finally assemble them into intricate surfaces.
The first stage of the manufacturing process begins with the clay, a raw material extracted from the depths of the Fez earth. Subjected to the embrace of water, the clay is transformed into a supple paste, ready to be shaped. As a craftsman, the maâlem is also a true artist, an interpreter of the natural world, imprinting shapes and motifs that bear witness to the cultural richness of Morocco.
The clay is then poured into molds, each piece bearing the mark of an ancestral tradition. These clay tiles, still soft, are placed under the Moroccan sun to dry naturally, giving them an earthy-brown hue. This is followed by an initial firing, during which the tiles are subjected to the intense heat of a traditional kiln. This first firing transforms the soft clay into a more resistant material, ready to receive the colored glazes. The next step is glazing, during which the craftsman adorns the tiles with color. Each shade is carefully blended, transforming the tiles into a festival of cobalt blues, emerald greens, saffron yellows and carmine reds. These glazed tiles then undergo a second firing, where the insatiably hungry fire fixes the colors. The heat causes the glaze to vibrate, fusing with the clay to create a luminous, glazed surface. Thanks to the natural variations in the movement of the flames, each tile can have a unique tonality, bringing a visual richness and variety that give zellige its distinctive character.
Once cooled, the tiles move on to the cutting stage. Expert hands wield precise tools to cut each tile into smaller pieces.
The final touch is the assembly of the zellige pieces into surfaces, where each piece finds its place, forming an image corresponding to the artist’s vision.
This is how zellige, the product of earth and fire, water and air, is fashioned.
Each tile, imbued with this magic, reveals in its patterns and colors a fragment of the soul of Morocco.
