1.1m2 art nouveau Belgian ceramic floor - pre 1912

A small Belgian art nouveau ceramic tile, handmade by Carrelages Céramiques de Chimay, Maufroid Freres & Soeur, Rue Poncet, Bourlers, Henegouwen, Belgium, who later became: S.A. La Céramique de Bourlers. Maufroid Freres et Soeur & traded as such between 1879 and 1912, the tiles display on their reverse the Maufroid rings and centralised 'M' stamp.

40 tiles, c.16.6cm sq, the total surface area is c.1.1m2 / 11.8 sq ft.

The floor bears all the DNA of art nouveau styling; the principal field tile design tessellating across 4 tiles. The floor has cleaned well, there are occasional small chips and edge nibbles on a small number of tiles, all groutable. 

A perfect period statement floor for a toilet, small bathroom or as decorative elements on walls like splashbacks, aga inglenooks or inside a shower.

Owing to the small size of the floor it is only likely to be economically viable to ship as part of a larger order.

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.