c.16.8m2 - A rich and warm antique Belgian ceramic with its original twin floral themed borders

A quality Belgian ceramic with its original same size borders, which can be laid singularly or back to back, as shown in the photographs. 

The floor totals 16.8m2 / 181 sq ft. in surface area.

The floor was produced in the early 20th century by Societe Generale de Produits Refractaires et Ceramiques a Morialme, Belgique, a scan from the page of their period catalogue showing the floor is included in the photo gallery.

The principal field tiles are 14cm square, 15mm thick and the the mosaically styalized design embraces a strong floral theme in a warm palette, where dark red and mustard are the dominant colours. The borders, using two separate tiles of one flower facing left and the other facing right, are lush in detail and frame the field tiles beautifully. It is rare to reclaim so many border tiles;  there are 375 border tiles with this floor plus all of the 8 internal and external border corner tiles required for a duplicate back-to-back lay as shown in the photographs. 

The floor arrives ready to relay and has cleaned well of its old  mortar to the back and sides. The tile faces, which were dulled owing to many years of waxing, now reveal consistent crisp colours as the high resolution photographs in the gallery show. Displaying a pleasing patina, with a very small of tiles having small groutable chips or edge nibbles expected of a floor over 100 years old, once laid they will not require sealing or waxing as a regular wash is all that is required to maintain their lustre and beauty.

Being highly fired to 1,100F degrees the tiles can be laid inside or outside of the home and, as excellent distributors of heat, they will work very efficiently with underfloor heating systems.

Tile quantities by tile type:-

Field tiles - 475 - 9.3m2 / 100 sq. ft

Large borders - 375 plus all 4 internal and 4 external border corners - 7.5m2 / 81 sq. ft or 26.8 linear metres / 88 linear ft. when laid in duplicate, back to back, as shown in the photographs.

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.