If you’ve ever wandered the streets of Venice in Italy, you’ll probably have walked on terrazzo tiles – or ‘pavimento alla veneziana’ as the Italians call it.
The Piebald’s founder, Daniella, fell in love with these tiles on her honeymoon in Venice in December 2019 – a beautiful surprise trip from her husband.
The Piebald’s Founder, Daniella, in Venice on her honeymoon in December 2019.
Since then, terrazzo has been dominating in home decor. You can find terrazzo-everything, from tiles and trays to table lamps, like the one in our store.
It’s no wonder why, with so many colourways and designs, terrazzo is a versatile material which is easy to add into your existing decor collections.
But what is it? We take a closer look…
Terrazzo is a material made of little marble fragments set into cement, thought to have been first produced in Italy in the 16th century.
However, there’s a wonderfully romantic fable about how it was formed which we learned from Rob Whitaker – the creative director and co-founder of UK tiling company, Claybrook.
Earlier this year, Rob chatted to Carole Annett on the House Guest podcast by Country & Town House and described the possible story behind how terrazzo was first formed.
Rob says one day, Italian artist Michelangelo took a look at his studio floor and realised it was looking a little rough from all his marble sculpting.
He fancies that Michelangelo would have thought to himself, "I know, I’ll use all those marble chips that are left over and mix them with some other clays and pigments, and we’ll just turn them into a big soup and lay it across the floor in one continuous soupy process. Then it will set and we’ll get a nice floor with little bits in it of all the marbles that were leftover from the sculpting."
And so, this is the fable of how terrazzo – or, as Carole sums up, 'Michelangelo’s soup' – was first formed.
It’s an endearing story which we can’t help but think of when we see terrazzo – and since it’s incredibly trendy, we’re seeing it a lot.
What’s also influenced its popularity is the sustainability factor, since it’s made from recycled materials.
If you, like us, are looking for ways to include terrazzo in your home, take a look at our Hand-Cut Terrazzo Table Lamp with Linen Lampshade. It's perfect for your living room, office or even your bedside table.
