> Because the high quality mosaics are actually quite expensive
Really? How so? You just buy colored tiles, transfer the outline to the mortar, and put the tiles in like paint-by-number.
Really? How so? You just buy colored tiles, transfer the outline to the mortar, and put the tiles in like paint-by-number.
Examples from Conimbriga in Portugal:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b6/02/e4/b602e479e1dd06431f56...
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6e/25/e7/6e25e74191ff86eeacb8...
Don't need to do the whole floor, just a section, like a "medallion" that is done in wood floors. Medallions in wood are a lot more skilled to make, because you can't fill the gaps with mortar like is done on the mosaics.
I can't see more than an afternoon for, say, a 3x3 one.
As far as the design goes, just copy it from a Roman one.
Even if you are correct though and the mosaic is easy to reproduce, it will be out of context. It will be just a few people who can understand what is represented there and why, and if you are going to throw money and effort at it, you can as easily invest in something original and that might match better the rest of the design in your home/office.
Me, I have some cast cement copies of gargoyles guarding my driveway. People have always liked them and sparked some fun conversations. I noticed them while browsing a local artist's studio, they didn't cost much. I think he wanted to get rid of them :-)
I like having little details like that. I'm surprised at such a negative reaction people have to a copy of a Roman mosaic.
That said, there are methods of mass producing mosaics in factories for cheap. Then it becomes a matter of taste more so than money and artisanship.
Many houses have a cut class stained window panel. They're a lot more work to make. Houses with custom tile and custom sinks aren't unusual, either, and they're not restricted to mansions. I know this because a friend of mine makes and installs them. He redid the bathroom counter, sink, and bath wall for me, tub to ceiling, and it wasn't that much. It was simply mahvelous.
I recently started seeing a new dentist, and recognized that he'd done all the sinks for him :-)
It’s not uncommon though to see mosaic floors in pre-war European homes, especially in entrance halls, but they tend to be designs specific to the space. After all, copying an existing design requires the same floor dimensions.
In Sevilla, there’s actually a palace where the owner changed the dimensions of the rooms to fit the roman mosaics (originals) they had installed https://visitasevilla.es/en/museum-fine-arts-and-other-place...
New mosaics are rare because labour is more expensive, but for sure they still get made. EDT I’ve always figured that it’d be something fun to commission for new buildings because, old as the medium is, you still have the basic elements of colour and form that should allow contemporary artists to express themselves.
for example here’s a recent mosaic in England by Grayson Pery https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/05/A-House-for-Essex_... part of https://www.dezeen.com/2015/05/15/house-for-essex-fat-grayso...
or a Belgian atelier making traditional mosaic floors http://www.mosaicodidue.be/vloeren-nieuw/
Surely that’s why we call it “tile mosaics” rather than “mosaics”? Though some of the islamic tilework is really nice, it used “generically shaped” tiles but not square ones resulting in beautiful patterns (whose regularity could be broken up by playing with tile colors) e.g. zellij tilework.
There's some blundering about at first, but once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly.