A 19.7m2 Belgian ceramic with triple borders c.1919

Displaying the design DNA of early Art Deco styling, an antique ceramic floor of 16cm square field and border tiles, framed by a half size border.

The floor totals 19.7m2 / 212 sq ft.

Manufactured by Societe Anonyme Ceramiques Moderne, Rebaix, Belgique, we include a scan from their original catalogue.

The company established production facilities in Rebaix in 1913-1914 but their infrastructure was damaged during World War I and production commenced in 1919.

This design is only number 5 in their catalogue so we would date the floor as c.1919-1920 on that basis.

The tiles have restored well, we have recovered 4 large border corners and 4 small border corners.

The high resolution photographs of a random c.1.2m2 section of the floor are representative of the whole; some tiles display groutable chips or edge nibbles but the tiles are robust, the patina antique and rich and at +15mm thick they are good for another 100 years.

The tiles can be laid inside or outside of the home.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

FIELD tiles - 600 tiles - 15.3m2 / 165 sq ft.

LARGE BORDER - 82 tiles plus 4 corners - 2.2m2 / 23.7 sq. ft. - 13.8 linear metres / 45.1 linear ft.

SMALL BORDER - 165 tiles plus 4 corners - 2.2m2 / 23.7 sq ft. - 27.6 linear metres / 55.2 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.