About Motawi Tiles
Each Motawi tile is skillfully hand crafted by staff dedicated to beauty and quality. Every tile is pressed from an original plaster mold and glazed by hand in the Motawi Tileworks studio. This handmade process gives each Motawi tile its own unique character, while still being an accurate reproduction of the original relief tile design. Nawal Motawi has spent years refining her craft. Every component from the custom mixed clay to the proprietary glaze formulas has been perfected. The original glaze formulas are known only to a few and are carefully reproduced to ensure the rich color depth that is a unique signature of Motawi tile. Motawi Tiles are embossed on the back with the original Motawi Tileworks name and logo from Ann Arbor, Michigan. This guarantees that each tile is authentic and hand made at the Motawi Tileworks studio. Each Motawi tile comes with a molded hanging notch which is pressed into the back of the tile before firing. Motawi tile are perfect for hanging as individual works of art but are sized with installation i mind. Motawi tiles are sized to accommodate a 3/16" grout space. Tiles are nominally down-sized by 3/16" to accommodate for grout on all sides; for example, a 6"x6" is actually 5 13/16" x  13/16". Each Motawi tile is 5/8" thick and glazed over the edges. Each Motawi Tile is individually handmade and carefully inspected to ensure exquisite quality. All the Motawi Tile we stock at Arts and Craftsman is A-Grade quality coming directly from the Motawi Tileworks.  Motawi Tileworks was founded in 1992 by Nawal and Karim Motawi, who starting making tiles in their garage and selling them at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market to the rutabaga sellers. More than 30 of their employees now makes tiles in a 12,900 square foot studio; and sell them through 300 stores spread across the United States.