Qallalin tiles
{{short description|Type of decorative tiles made in Tunisia}}
File:Tiled wall Mosque of the Barber Kairouan, Tunisia 2012.jpg, Tunisia]]
Qallalin tiles or Qallaline tiles were a type of decorative tile which was characteristic of Tunisian architecture during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Historical background
This type of tile was named for the Qallalin district of Tunis, where they were most commonly produced.{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ&q=Islamic+Palace+Architecture+in+the+Western+Mediterranean&pg=PP1 |title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780300218701 |location= |pages=}}{{Rp|pages=223–224}}{{Cite book |last1=Degeorge |first1=Gérard |title=The Art of the Islamic Tile |last2=Porter |first2=Yves |publisher=Flammarion |year=2001 |isbn=208010876X |language=en |translator-last=Radzinowicz |translator-first=David}}{{Rp|page=84}} Although their production may have started as early as the 16th century, prior to the advent of Ottoman rule, the height of their production and artistic quality was in the 17th and 18th centuries.{{Rp|page=84}}{{Cite book |last1=Binous |first1=Jamila |title=Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia |last2=Baklouti |first2=Naceur |last3=Ben Tanfous |first3=Aziza |last4=Bouteraa |first4=Kadri |last5=Rammah |first5=Mourad |last6=Zouari |first6=Ali |publisher=Museum With No Frontiers, MWNF |year=2002 |isbn=9783902782199 |edition=2nd |language=en |chapter=Tunisian Ceramics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wT7dBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT101}} The Qallalin workshops also produced other pottery objects including vases, jars, pitchers, and lamps.{{Cite book |last= |first= |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&dq=qallalin+tiles&pg=PA479 |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |location= |pages=479 |chapter=Ceramics |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}} Their quality and production gradually declined in the 19th century.{{Rp|page=84}}
Style
The tiles are typically underglaze-painted with motifs of vases, plants, and arches. The predominant colours are blue, green, and ochre-like yellow, which distinguishes them from contemporary Ottoman tiles.{{Rp|pages=223–224}} Good examples of them are found in the Zawiya of Abu al-Balawi or "Mosque of the Barber" in Kairouan,{{Rp|pages=223–224}} as well as in a number of historic palaces and aristocratic houses in Tunis.{{Rp|page=|pages=86–89}}
Distribution
File:Tripoli - Gurgi-Moschee 1833 bis 34 erbaut,Türe und Fayencenwand.jpg in Tripoli, Libya]]
In addition to being used in local buildings, they were also widely exported to Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and in some cases even to Spain.{{Rp|page=|pages=84–86}}{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Dalu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVA9AAAAMAAJ&q=egypt |title=Qallaline Tile Panels: Tile Pictures in North Africa |date=1978 |publisher=Jones |isbn=978-0-906468-01-2 |language=en}} The Gurgi Mosque in Tripoli, Libya, also has tile panels in a style identical to those of Tunis and Kairouan.{{Rp|page=86}} In Egypt, Qallalin tiles are found in the Mosque of Abu al-Dhahab in Cairo,{{Cite web |last=Alvarez Dopico |first=Clara Ilham |date=2010 |title=Qallaline: Mosquée Muhammad abu ad-Dhahab |url=http://qallaline.huma-num.fr/pawtucket2/index.php/Browse/collections/facet/place_facet/id/70/view/list/key/8e901317e36cd5591162a1079efcc97a |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=qallaline.huma-num.fr}} in the Mosque of Ibrahim Terbana in Alexandria,{{Cite web |title=Restoration of Tarbana mosque Alexandria {{!}} The Arab Contractors |url=https://www.arabcont.com/english/project-710 |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.arabcont.com}}{{Cite web |last=Álvarez Dopico |first=Clara Ilham |date=2010 |title=Qallaline : Search : Ibrāhīm Tarbāna |url=http://qallaline.huma-num.fr/pawtucket2/index.php/MultiSearch/Index?search=Ibr%C4%81h%C4%ABm+Tarb%C4%81na |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=qallaline.huma-num.fr}} and in the Mosque of Salah Agha Duqmaqsis in Rosetta.{{Cite web |last=Álvarez Dopico |first=Clara Ilham |date=2010 |title=Qallaline: Mosquée Salah Agha Duqmasis |url=http://qallaline.huma-num.fr/pawtucket2/index.php/Browse/collections/facet/place_facet/id/69/view/list/key/8e901317e36cd5591162a1079efcc97a |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=qallaline.huma-num.fr}} In Constantine and Algiers they are mostly found in palaces.{{Cite journal |last=Álvarez Dopico |first=Clara Ilham |date=2018-10-15 |title=Une nouvelle tradition : la céramique algéroise à l'aube du xxe siècle |journal=ABE Journal |volume=13 |language=fr |issue=13 |doi=10.4000/abe.4333 |issn=2275-6639|doi-access=free |hdl=10651/52900 |hdl-access=free }}