A 7m2 to 8m2 antique Belgian Saint Remy ceramic

A small, 7m2+ ceramic encaustic tile with its original same size border, the floor was manufactured by Societe Anonyme Produits Ceramiques St Remy-Chimay, a heritage Belgian ceramic producer established close to the city of Chimay. A photograph of the tile factory, now long since closed, is shown in the photo gallery. We would date the floor from the early 1920’s, indeed the design of the border tiles infer early art deco.

These 14cm square field and border tiles have restored well revealing a quality heavy ceramic with a good slip and a design and an aqua palette that we think lends itself particularly well to a bathroom project. The tiles can be laid on the floor or fixed on walls as a splashback or in a shower. A small number of tiles display the occasional small chip or edge nibbles, all grout-able and to be expected of a floor over 100 years old. The high-resolution photographs are of a random sample of the floor and representative of the whole.

The large border corner tiles have not been reclaimed but can easily be mitre cut by the tiler from the normal borders.

Tile quantities:-

Field tiles – 300 – 6m2 / 64.6 sq ft.

Large borders* – 50 – 1m2 / 10.7 sq ft – 7 linear metres / 23 linear ft.

*There are up to 45 more large borders tiles available, totalling c.0.9m2

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.