What is mosaic smalti?

Smalti is a traditional enameled-glass mosaic material with highly reflective qualities and a wide range of colors. Made from molten glass poured into flat slabs, cooled, and cut into individual pieces, smalti has been used for more a thousand years throughout the world to produce beautiful mosaic artwork.

What is glass smalti?

Byzantine glass mosaic tile or smalti is the type of opaque glass tile used in classical Byzantine mosaics. Smalti is not molded into uniform shapes like modern glass mosaic tile. Smalti is made by mixing glass and various minerals according to traditional recipes and melting the mixture in a furnace.

What is the difference between Mexican and Italian smalti?

The first and largest difference is cut. Both production techniques pour a puddle of molten glass. In Italy it is called a pizza, in Mexico a tortilla.

What is mexican smalti?

The Material of the Mosaic Masters. Hand poured and cut into the most beautiful glass mosaic tesserae. Perfect for every project from contemporary and traditional mosaic art to restorations. Our smalti has been used to create the largest public art installations in the world both indoors and out.

What is smalti tile?

Smalti is the result of molten glass that has been cooled and hand-cut into uneven tesserae, usually in 1/2″ square pieces. The thickness is approximately 1/4″. The beauty of smalti is in its imperfection.

What is smalti glass?

Smalti is traditional hand-cut mosaic glass that has a different look and feel from molded tile. This is the glass to use for reproducing antique mosaic art, icons, or making modern interpretations of classical designs.

How is smalti made?

Smalti is not molded into uniform shapes like modern glass mosaic tile. Smalti is made by mixing glass and various minerals according to traditional recipes and melting the mixture in a furnace. The molten glass is then poured onto a slab for cooling, and then cut by hand into rectangular pieces.

How much smalti do I need to make a mosaic?

Depending on how you cut the smalti, you could get about 12 to 14 square inches of coverage per 1/4 pound. A good rule of thumb is 2.5 to 3 pounds per square foot. Traditionally mosaics made from smalti were not grouted.

What is mud turtle mosaic™ smalti?

With Mud Turtle Mosaic™ smalti, extra care is taken to ensure that the mixture is more homogeneous and that little or no cold seams are formed during the pouring of the molten material out on the slab. The result is that are fewer blobs and swirls and fault plains inside the glass.