A handmade antique Belgian ceramic floor with triple borders

A handmade ceramic encaustic Belgian floor with its original triple border series dating from the early 20th century

The reverse of the tiles bear the inscription ‘CNW’, an abbreviation for ‘Societe Anonyme Le Ceramique National, Welkenraedt’, a company established at Forges-lez-Chimay in 1892 which later opened a subsidiary in Welkenraedt in 1900. The Welkenraedt factory continued to trade until the mid 1920’s.

Main field tile and same size border are 14.3 cm sq with harlequin half borders of 14.5 cm x 9.5cm

The floor, in a cool palette of off white, greens, vieux rose and vanilla totals c.12m2 / 129 sq ft in surface area with individual tile quantities available on request.

The tiles were individually hand made in small production runs and as a consequence there is some tonal variations in the slip colours, evidence of which can be seen in the high resolution photographs, all adding to the charm of the floor.

The patina is rich and antique with some tiles displaying groutable edge nibbles and small chips and being a highly fired tile the floor can be laid inside or outside of the home.