Handmade ceramic Boch Freres border tiles c.1881

Large, handmade antique French ceramic border tiles, plus corner tiles, now reclaimed and fully restored, arriving ready to relay.

Manufactured by Carrelages Ceramiques Boch Freres, Maubeuge the tiles are 17.5cm / 7 inches square, 2cm thick and weigh close to 1.4 kg each. They appear in one of the oldest Boch Freres catalogues known, dated 1881, scans of which are included in the photo gallery. 

Of a Greek meander design the tiles are in an autumnal palette and could be laid on floors or walls; as a border to a modern floor tile or antique parquet, as a kitchen splashback, as a shower feature or on a garden path etc.

These handmade productions have cleaned superbly revealing a quality ceramic and a pleasing patina.

There are tonal variations in the tiles palette and we show these in the last photo in the gallery; one palette, for which aubergine is the dominant slip colour, and another for which terracotta is the dominant slip colour.

Enquiry for quantity available.

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.