Bestiário Series – Portuguese Handpainted Tiles Collection. “Um Sapo” captures the playful spirit of 17th century Portuguese azulejo panels, where animals, allegory and nature intertwine across luminous tin-glazed surfaces. Inspired by the celebrated tile schemes at the Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira in Lisbon, this piece pays homage to the originals created by the workshops of Jan van Oort and Willem van der Kloet of Amsterdam.

The Toad is rendered in soft, fluid brushwork - its body alive with mottled greens, olive speckles and warm yellow undertones that bleed gently into the glaze. Surrounding washes of cobalt blue suggest water in loose, painterly strokes, while leafy flourishes in deep green and sepia frame the scene. The white ground is not stark but softly nuanced, allowing the pigments to bloom and feather naturally within the glaze.

Each tile is finely handpainted, preserving the spontaneity and slight irregularities that define authentic azulejo work. Subtle variations in tone, brush pressure and pigment pooling ensure that no two tiles are ever completely identical.

Part of De Ferranti’s Portuguese Handpainted Tiles Collection, Um Sapo celebrates both craftsmanship and narrative - a whimsical fragment of historic Lisbon, reinterpreted for contemporary interiors.