A PORTUGUESE LARGE BLUE AND WHITE AZULEJO TILE FRIEZE

The extensive tile frieze or azulejo is typically Portuguese, and they are widespread in domestic, civic and secular architecture, both inside and in gardens. The art was introduced via Spain by the Moors in the 15th century, and the tiles began to be produced in Portugal in the early 16th century under the influence of craftsmen from Spain, Flanders and Italy. Subsequently there was intense interraction between Portugal and the Dutch United Provinces. The 17th C saw the development of polychrome decoration and the late 17th and early 18th centuries became the 'Golden Age of the Azulejo', the mid-18th century seeing the adoption of the Rococo style with galant and pastoral themes inspired by the likes of the French Painter Antoine Watteau, while after the destruction of Lisbon in the 1755 Great Earthquake, a more Neoclassical style started to appear (J.M. dos Santos Simes, Carreaux céramiques hollandais au Portugal et en Espagne, Den Haag, 1959).