Byzantine Smalti Mosaic Glass

Byzantine Smalti is the most heavily used material in our mosaic workshop. Smalti is the traditional handmade glass used in the mosaics of medieval and Renaissance Europe.  Smalti is NOT molded into uniform shapes like modern glass mosaic tile.  Smalti is made by mixing sand and 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.  The small hand-made batches result in natural variations in shape and color, which allow the artist to create beautiful life-like images. 

• Opaque glass mosaic tiles made according to traditional recipes in small batches.
• Natural variations in shape and color for life-like mosaics.
• Each tile is hand-cut, NOT molded like modern glass mosaic tiles.
• Shapes are irregular rectangles with occasional triangles. 
• Size of each tile is about the size of a dime or less.
• Thickness ranges from about 3/16 to 1/4 inch.
• To cover one square foot, you need between two and three pounds.
• Cuts quickly and easily with the Mosaic Glass Cutters that we sell.