Early 20th century Boch Freres antique ceramic c.13.5m2 to 14m2

An impressive antique Boch Freres Maubeuge ceramic totalling c.13.5m2 / 14m2 or 150sq ft, the floor has been reclaimed from the entrance hall of a house renovation in the Burgundy town of Talant, close to Dijon.

The tiles are 17.5cm square, 17mm thick and weigh 1.2 kilos each.  

Handmade in small batches the main field tiles offer a classical geometric tessellation framed by a helix themed border tile and we include in the photo gallery a presentation of the tiles from the original period Boch Freres catalogue in our possession.

Being a highly fired tile they can be laid inside or outside of the home.

This is a rare floor from a quality, heritage internationally respected manufacturer.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

FIELD - 400 tiles - 12.2m2 / 131 sq ft

BORDER - 63 tiles, being 49 helix borders tiles and 14 helix with blue lozenge motif - 1.93m2 / 21 sq ft.

The border tiles were laid along the length of the hallway, each side, so the border did not frame the floor. 

Scheduled for restoration, the finished floor will be available shortly.

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.