A rare 11m2+ handmade Boch Freres ceramic floor - 1890

Currently being restored tile by tile in our workshop and available soon, a rare find and one of four impressive ceramic encaustic floors recently lifted from the same house close to Namur in Belgium.

This handmade tile is French, dated 1890 and was produced by Boch Freres, Maubeuge. It comprises of a 15cm square principal field tile, a same size border and a half size border. Verification of the dating of the tiles can be found in the book ‘Carreaux Industriels 1840—1940’ and we have included a scan below showing the field tile.

The floral theme is delicate and detailed and the 15mm thick ceramic is in excellent condition. The high-resolution photographs below of a 1.5m2 random section of the floor are representative of the whole and the floor has cleaned superbly of its original mortar and dirt and wax revealing crisp and consistent colours. The royal blue fond and moss green are very complementary creating not only a stunningly designed floor but a palette restful on the eye.

Being a highly-fired tile they can be laid inside or outside of the home and will work very efficiently with underfloor heating systems.

We are close to the final restoration of the floor, which will arrive ready to relay. Tile quantities below are indicative of the final quantities. There are 3 corners available for the half size border and 3 internal and 3 external for the large borders, so in both instances the missing corners will require mitre cutting from existing borders.

The floor totals c.12.5m2 / 135 sq ft in surface area.

Tile Counts (give or take one or two):-

Field tiles – 390 – 8.8m2

Large borders 118 (3 internal corners, 3 external corners) – 2.8m2 or c.9 linear metres / 29.5 linear feet*

Small borders 115 (3 corners) – 1.4m2 or c. 9 linear metres / 29.5 linear feet*

*Linear lengths based on a bac to back lay of the borders as in the photographs. For a single lay, double the metre length.