8m2+ antique Perrusson kitchen floor with borders

A curious find, this classically designed antique French floor has been reclaimed from a farmhouse renovation in a small hamlet called Ebaty in the Cote d’Or, Burgundy, France. The floor is 8m2 / 85 sq ft in surface area and has its original same size border tiles. Made of gres cerame and highly fired, the 17.5cm sq (nearly 7 inches sq) main field tiles are a dark grey geometric design on a cream fond with the border tiles a beige leaf on a chocolate brown fond. As can be seen in the photographs below there appears initially on first observation to be small scale surface wearing on some of the tile surfaces (c.15-20%) but this is in fact where the slip colour has not taken at the production stage. The tiles are reversed marked ‘Perrusson - Ecluse’ and were manufactured in the French department of Saone et Loire, Burgundy, close to The Canal de Bourgogne. The tiles are an unusual size for a ceramic tile and heavy, some have edge nibbles and grout-able chips but they are in good condition. We cannot date this floor; it has been reclaimed from a farmhouse over 200 years old, the style of the borders point to art deco but the observation of some tiles having a thinner surface slip than others indicates the probability of being handmade in batches, which would be an earlier production process!

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

Field tiles – 230

Border tiles – 55 – 9.6 linear metres / 31 linear feet.

(1 corner although others can easily be mitre cut)

Plus large number of offcuts which can be used as half tiles – c.44 field tiles.

Perrusson - a brief history...

Jean-Marie Perrusson was not only known for ceramic tile production but also for the production of bricks and roof tiles. Many of the lozenge themed terracotta mechanical tiles in Burgundy bear the Perrusson hallmark. He built his first brick making factory in 1860 and started mechanical tile production in 1863, to which he added a workshop for manufacturing ceramic tiles in 1875. Further expansion of the ceramic tile production in the Saône-et-Loire was initiated (in Saint-Julien-sur-Dheune in 1866, St. Pantaleon 1870), and even beyond the department (in Sancoins Cher in 1870 and Fontafié in Charente in 1878). 

The company was renamed ‘Perrusson son and Desfontaines’ in 1890 and the factory also manufactured architectural ceramics and statues. In April 1960 the factory finally closed its doors. The vast majority of the original buildings constructed in 1890/1900 are destroyed with the offices, changing rooms of the factory, the concierge and the electrical workshop the only significant remnants of the site that can still be seen. 

The Perrusson factory employed 40 workers in 1860, 80 by 1874, 130 in 1890, 300 at its peak in 1900, 280 in 1930 and 130 during 1945 to 1950.