10.8m2 antique ceramic floor with triple border tiles

One of three floors reclaimed from the same house, built around 1905 in Tournai, Belgium this antique ceramic floor, totalling 10.8m2 / 116.7 sq. ft, comes with its original triple border series.

Consisting of a simple and strongly geometric main 13.8mm field tile in a palette of mid blue, leaf green and mid grey edging with burgundy detail it is beautifully framed by a lush, fluid triple border series of a same size large border, itself top and tailed by a half size 14cm x 7cm border in the same palette for which all eight corner pieces are available.

The floor has cleaned excellently, the 15mm thick ceramic is very good and colours are consistent. There are, on a small number of tiles, edge nibbles and small chips, all of which are groutable and part of the antique tile charm.

Tile quantities – give or take one or two:-

Field tiles – 367 tiles –7.4m2 / 79.6sq. ft

Large border tiles – 85 tiles plus 2 corners – 1.74m2 / 18.7 sq. ft or 12.1 linear metres / 40 linear ft.

Small border tiles – 170 tiles plus 5 corners – 1.7m2 / 18.2 sq.ft or 24 linear metres / 78.7linear ft.*

* Halve the linear lengths for a double border lay, as shown in the photographs.

NOTE:-
Antique tiles were most commonly made in single or two tile moulds. Before current computer automation methods their moulds were made my hand and the colour slips mixed by eye. Kiln temperatures could also be variable, as could the firing time. The result is that often tiles display subtle size and thickness variations and there can be tonal variations in colours, owing to the slip mixing and/or firing time. All of this makes these handmade tiles unique and adds to their charm. Some floors display their subtle variations in size and tones, some not, but when photographing we always take a random section of the floor so that it is representative of the whole. A tiler should always dry lay a section of the tiles to familiarise himself with them before starting to fix lay.