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What is encaustic cement tile.
Traditional encaustic cement tiles meaning not ones with a porcelain body were created by skilled artisans in the mid 1800s.
What sets encaustics apart from other types of tile is that the pigment is pressed into the surface in a patterned mold instead of just being a thin.
Encaustic tile is traditionally made from clay but today most modern versions of the tile are made using cement and are often referred to simply as cement tile.
The individual patterns are made by manually applying separate pigments one by one in a handmade brass mold.
Cement encaustic tiles today are made from a combination of marble dust pigment and cement.
Zia tile is based in los angeles and ships handmade encaustic cement tile and moroccan zellige tile worldwide.
Similar to natural stone each tile is made by hand and takes between three and five minutes to make.
Like their predecessors encaustic clay tiles they derive their name from the term encaustic which is an art term used for metal enameling that uses a type of lost wax procedure.
Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay they are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six.
The pattern appears inlaid into the body of the tile so that the design remains as the tile is worn down.
There is no glaze layer on.
Cement tile is handmade.
To this day england has the most prevalent encaustic tile installations because minton tile is an english company.
Cement tiles are made by hand one at a time using mineral pigments cement a mold and a hydraulic press.
They have this name because of the intricate patterns and designs that mimic the encaustic enameling process.
After this mix would be poured into a metal mold that held a pattern design and was set.
When cement tiles were first introduced during the mid 1800s the victorians thought they looked just like encaustic tiles which have been around for centuries and mistakenly started referring to them as encaustic tiles also.
Encaustic tiles may be glazed or unglazed and the inlay may be as.
Cement or more accurately concrete tile is made from portland cement and is compressed rather than fired like encaustic tile.
They were made with a mix of cement sand pigment and mineral powders.
No cement tiles are not truly encaustic but it is an acceptable label for cement tiles also known as inlaid tiles.