Large 23m2+ Belgian ceramic floor 1910 - classical tessellation

A large antique Belgian ceramic floor dating from the early part of the 20th century. 

Reclaimed, professionally restored and arriving ready to relay the floor was manufactured by Societe Anonyme La Ceramique Nationale WELKENRAEDT (Belgique) and appears in their first album 'Album 1', dated 1910. We include in the photo gallery scans from the catalogue of the 14.1mm sq field and large border tiles in addition to photographs of a random section of c.1m2 of the floor. The tiles are in excellent condition, as high resolution photographs of the section show.

Totalling c.23m2+ / 250 sq ft, the palette is cool in greens, blues, grey, burgundy, mustard and off-white and the tessellation is classical and fluid, alternating between the two colour ways in the central motif. A highly fired tile it can be laid inside or outside of the home, resistant and robust to high summer and sub zero winter temperatures. There are c.21m2+ of field tiles and c.2m2 of the border tiles; 97 border tiles in total, offering a total lay length for the borders of c.13.7 linear metres / 45 linear feet.

 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.