26.5 m2+ / 286 sq ft art nouveau French ceramic floor with double borders

A large, complete antique French ceramic encaustic floor, totalling 26.5m2 / 286 sq ft, dating from the early part of the 20th century, which has been reclaimed from the two reception rooms of a house in Rheims in the Champagne area of France. The main field tile, a beautifully detailed ornate ‘ostrich feathers and butterfly’ themed tile and the art nouveau motif borders are both 15cm square and 1.5cm thick. While the design is rich and flowing the palette is subtle and autumnal with the fond of the field tile in off white, the vegetation browns and mid grey and the peacock feathering and butterflies a sea green. The double, ‘back to back’ border is classically art nouveau in its stylized vegetal theme.

The floor is in very good condition, some tiles bearing small grout-able chips and nibbles, expected of a floor 100 yrs old, but the tile surfaces are excellent owing to a good clay slip and after a deep cleaning the colours are fresh and crisp. The high resolution photographs are a random sample of around 1.25 square metres of tiles and representative of the whole larger floor surface. Having been taken from two rooms there are a lot of border tiles available, some 25.5+ linear metres (83.5 linear feet) if laid in duplicate as shown in the photos or 51+ linear metres if laid as a single tile (167 linear feet). There are 7 internal and 7 external border corner pieces available, so plenty spare for tracing around chimney’s or features. As the border tile design is geometrically pure more could easily be mitre cut should more corner pieces be needed.

This is a unique period floor, which we feel would work superbly in a large well lit area, the botanical theme lending itself well to a conservatory, linking house to garden, or on a patio. Being ceramic and highly fired there are no issues laying the floor outside where high or sub-zero temperatures will have no effect on the tiles preservation.The floor arrives clean and ready to relay, requiring only a regular washing to maintain its beauty.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

Field tile – 840 – 18.9 m2 / 203 sq ft

Border tile – 340 including corners - 7.65m2 / 82 sq ft