Large, 34m2, antique French ceramic floor, early 20th century
A rare find, this stunning early 20th century French ceramic floor has been reclaimed from the reception rooms and hallway of a period house in the cathedral city of Rheims, nothern France. The surface area is large, totalling 34m2 / 366 sq. ft.
Classical and unmistakingly French the principal 15.5cm square field tile, reverse stamped S C was produced by Manufacture de Ceramiques Sand & Cie a Feignies, pres de Maubeuge, a company established in 1872. The styalized motif is pure and the four tile tessellation is linked by fake dark red cabachons. The fioor offers its original full size ornate border tiles, 15cm sq and manufactured again in the town of Maubeuge but by a different Ceramic House, Gare de Douzies, Maubeuge and complimenting the large border tile is a half size border, 15cm x 7.5cm, modest and simple in its design. There are not sufficient borders to frame the floor so the borders will be laid as accents, for example, in door jambs, around staircases or fixtures, as an internal frame within the floor; we will be happy, without obligation, to look at a potential fit of the floor for your chosen area from a sketch or architects plans.
Professionally cleaned one by one of their original lime based mortar and years of surface wax the tiles reveal a ceramic in excellent condition; a few bear small groutable chips or edge nibbles but the 15mm thick ceramic is of excellent quality with colours crisp and consistent as the high resolution photographs below detail. This is a highly fired tile, fired to over 1,100F degrees, and as a consequence the floor can be laid inside or outside of the home as high summer and sub zero winter temperatures will have no effect on the robustness of the tiles. As excellent retainers of heat they can also be laid with underfloor heating systems and being a dense slip with an almost non existent surface porosity will not require sealing once laid, a simple regular wash is all that is required to maintain their beauty.
Tile counts, give or take one of two:-
FIELD TILES - 1,235 29.7m2 / 320 sq ft.
LARGE BORDERS - 130 plus 2 corner tiles - 3m2 / 32.7 sq ft. or 19.8 linear metres / 65 linear feet
SMALL BORDERS - 135 plus 3 corner tiles - 1.5m2 / 16.5 sq ft. or 20.2 linear metres / 66.4 linear feet
* plus free tiles rejects sufficient to mitre cut missing corner tiles for both the large and small borders.
CE230