A 13m2 mosaic themed Saint Ghislain ceramic - 1933

The faux-mosaique design was popular in France and Belgian in ceramic creation in the 1930's and this 91 year old mosaic themed design, with its original border series, was manufactured in 1933 by Societe Anonyme Companie Generale Produits Ceramiques Saint Ghislain Belgique. The photo gallery, in addition to showing a randomly selected 1m2 section of the fully restored floor, also includes the presentation of the tiles in the 1933 Saint Ghislain catalogue and a black and white photograph of their production usine. 

The palette is warm and lively, the design indulgent and the floor will be a hero in any room. 14cm sq field and large border tiles, framed by a half size border the floor totals c.13.1m2 / 141 sq. ft.

A highly fired tile it can be laid very effectively with underfloor heating systems.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

FIELD  TILES – 540 - 10.8m2 /  116 sq ft.

LARGE BORDERS TILES -  62 plus 4 corners – 1.3m2 / 14.2 sq ft. –  9.25 linear metres / 30.3 linear ft.

SMALL BORDER TILES - 100 plus 8 corners - 1m2 / 10.7 sq ft. - 14 linear metres / 46 linear ft.

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.