A Tesera mosaic portrait is glass smalti and glazed ceramic tesserae of 8–14 mm, cut with a hammer and hardie, set in lime mortar on a 12 mm sealed birch panel, then grouted, cleaned, waxed and signed. It comes in 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm, is made within two weeks and ships in a tracked, double-walled crate.
The specifics
- Panel
- 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm
- Tesserae
- Glass smalti and glazed ceramic, 8–14 mm
- Smalti
- Glass melted with metal oxides and poured into slabs
- Ceramic
- Fired and glazed by a potter two streets away
- Cutting
- By hand, with a hammer and hardie
- Bed
- Lime mortar
- Substrate
- 12 mm birch, sealed
- Finish
- Grouted, cleaned and waxed
- Hanger
- Keyhole, fixings included
- Back
- Signed
- Lead time
- Made within two weeks of approval, then posted
- Packaging
- Double-walled crate, foam corners, tracked end to end
How a portrait is made
The design
You upload a photo, or describe what you want drawn, and Tedooo draws it in mosaic in about a minute. It is free, with no card and no account, and you can run it as many times as you like. You approve one design, and that design is what we set.
The cartoon
The approved design is checked against your photograph, then traced full size as the cartoon: the lines every tessera will follow. This is where the eyes, the markings and the turn of the head are settled before any glass is cut.
The cutting
Glass smalti and glazed ceramic are cut with a hammer and hardie, one piece at a time, into tesserae of 8–14 mm. Each face comes away fresh from the slab or the tile, which is why a finished panel catches the light at thousands of small angles.
The setting
Each tessera is pressed into lime mortar on the sealed birch panel and levelled by hand as it goes in, the way the basilicas were set. This is the slowest part of the fortnight. The mortar then cures, slower in damp weather, before anything else is done to the surface.
The grout
Once the mortar has set, grout goes into every join across the panel and the excess comes off. The joins are what lock the surface together, and the last ones take the longest; the grout is also the one part of the finished panel that should never be soaked.
Cleaning and wax
The surface is cleaned until every face of glass and glaze reads clear, then waxed. The wax seals the surface and brings the colour up; it is the finish you see and touch, and dusting with a dry cloth does not take it away.
The check, the signature, the crate
The finished panel is held against the approved design, signed on the back beside the keyhole hanger, and packed with its fixings into a double-walled crate with foam corners. It leaves our US studio within two weeks of approval, tracked end to end.
What is a Tesera mosaic made of?
Glass smalti and glazed ceramic tesserae, 8–14 mm, in lime mortar on a 12 mm sealed birch panel, grouted and waxed. The glass is melted with metal oxides and poured into slabs; the ceramic is fired and glazed by a potter two streets away.
The two materials do different work. The smalti catches the light, each hand-cut face at its own angle; the glazed ceramic carries the quieter passages of a coat or a ground. The colour in both is in the material itself, so there is nothing on the surface to fade. What is a mosaic portrait made of goes through each layer.
Why is it made this way?
Because a mosaic cut by hand and set in mortar does what a print cannot: it has weight, it has a surface, and it moves in the light. Lime mortar holds each piece around its sides as it sets; the sealed birch will not warp under it.
A machine has never touched the panel. The tesserae are cut on a hardie rather than cast, so each has a freshly broken face; the mortar takes up the uneven backs so the surface can be levelled by hand; the birch is sealed before the mortar goes on so the panel hangs flat for good. Why lime mortar and birch is the longer answer.
How do I care for it?
Dust with a dry cloth. Never soak the grout. Direct sun is fine; it is glass and clay.
- A dry cloth drawn across the surface takes off dust and fingerprints
- No water, no spray, no polish: the grout and the mortar beneath it should stay dry
- Hang it where the light crosses it; the colour is in the glass and the glaze and will not fade
- Hang it on a single screw through the keyhole, with the fixings from the crate
The care guide and the hanging guide cover both in full.
How is it packed?
In a double-walled crate with foam corners, tracked end to end. Every panel is made within two weeks of approval, then posted, and we ship worldwide; checkout works out the postage and any customs charges.
The panel goes in with its keyhole fixings, signed on the back. Where lime mortar needs longer to cure in damp weather we hold the panel rather than crate it wet, and say so. How long a mosaic portrait takes sets out the two weeks and the post on top.
What is not in it?
No print, no resin and no vinyl anywhere in it, and nothing cast. If it has weight and you can feel grout between the pieces, it is mosaic.
Everything on this page is what you get whether you order a piece from the shop or upload a photo and have Tedooo draw your own. The panel, the glass, the clay, the mortar and the two weeks do not change between them.
Questions this leaves
Is the mosaic really cut by hand?
Yes. Glass smalti and glazed ceramic are cut with a hammer and hardie by our artisans in our US studio, one piece at a time, and set into lime mortar by hand. The only technology in the making is at the start, where Tedooo draws the design from your photo.
How big are the pieces?
The tesserae are 8–14 mm across, in both panel sizes. The size varies within one portrait with what the cartoon asks for, and the detail goes where the photograph has it, the eyes most of all. A 50 cm panel holds more pieces than a 30 cm one, not bigger ones.
What is on the back?
A keyhole hanger and our signature. The fixings for the keyhole come in the crate, so the panel hangs on a single screw and sits flat against the wall with no wire and no second hook.
Where is it made?
In our US studio: one workshop, a team of mosaic artisans, every panel signed on the back before it leaves. The ceramic is fired and glazed by a potter two streets away. The designs are drawn by Tedooo, and we sell through Tedooo as well.