13m2 of antique French carreaux de ciments tiles – red and grey

13m2 / 140 sq ft of antique French carreaux de ciments tiles manufactured by J Blachere et Cie, Carrelages Larmande,  Ardeche, who commenced making tiles in the village of Villeneuve in 1906. We date these tiles at between 1906 and 1920, which is the date range of the house they were reclaimed from in the Ardeche, south east France.

The tiles are cured (rather than fired as is the case with ceramic encaustic tiles) and in a classical central star and faux cabochons design, popular in the period. There are an equal number of red star and grey star tiles, providing the option to lay the floor in a variety of ways from a classical alternating damier to single colour dominant with the other colour as borders or in 4x4 etc.

The tiles have been cleaned of their old mortar and wax and arrive in their original matt state ready to relay. The surface patina is rich, as the high resolution photographs below show. Being a cured tile rather than a fired one it should only be laid within the home as carreaux de ciments tiles do have a natural porosity similar to terracotta and so require to be sealed once laid to protect them against staining.