A c.28m2 Boch Freres, Maubeuge ceramic with triple borders c.1908

A large, c.28m2 / 300 sq ft. antique ceramic with its original triple borders, being a same size border top and tailed by a half size border.

15cm sq tiles, 17mm thick, they are reverse stamped BOCH FRERES MAUBEUGE and appear in their 1908 catalogue, scans of which we include in the photo gallery.

The ceramic is excellent in a cool palette and the floor has restored well. Some tiles display the occasional small chip and edge nibbles and the photographs of around 1.25m2 of the floor are a random selection and representative of the whole floor.

As a highly fired tile it can be laid inside or outside of the home, for example, on a patio, garden path, conservatory or in a summer house.

All four large border corners and eight small border corners have been reclaimed.

We also have the identical floor available with a different large border. Owing to differences in sizes of the field tiles the two floors cannot be merged but they could be laid in two separate rooms. Details of the floor can be found here.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

FIELD - 820 tiles - 18.5m2 / 199 sq ft.

LARGE BORDERS - 200 tiles plus 4 corners - 4.6m2 / 49.5 sq ft. - 30.6 linear metres / 100 linear ft.

SMALL BORDERS - 400 tiles plus 8 corners - 4.6m2 / 49.5 sq ft. - 61.2 linear metres / 200 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.