Rare find – Large 25cm sq / 10 inch sq antique carreaux de ciments Paves – Aristocratic motifs in warm tones.

A rare find of +/- 16m2 / 170 sq ft of antique carreaux de ciments Belgian paves dated 1895.

Amongst the many antique floors we have reclaimed we have not come across tiles of these dimensions before; at 10-inch sq (25cm sq) and nearly 1 inch (2.5cm) thick these paves weigh close to 3.5 kilos each with only 16 tiles comprising 1 sq metre (1.1 sq yards).

The design is nothing short of regal with a heraldic ornate black cross sharing the floors design with a repeating lifted star. The palette is burned orange and wheat with black present in the motifs. The tiles are in good condition; some displaying small chips and nibbles, others surface crackling which was formed when the tiles were curing after production. In brief, as the photographs show, the patina of the floor is rich and antique but not at the expense of the robustness of the tiles.

The floor has been recovered from the dining room of a large Victorian (Napoleon III) period house on the Belgian-French border and the photographs below are of a 6 x 6 tile lay, which is 1.5 metres x 1.5 metres or 2.25 square metres (25 sq ft). Having been cleaned with an alkaline based tile restoring detergent and pressure steam washed they are now in their matt state. As carreaux de ciments tiles have a porosity similar to terracotta tiles they will need to be sealed once laid to protect them and we have also simulated, in photographs 1 to 4 by wetting the tiles, how a waxing or using a sealant with a satin finish could look. Being a cured rather than a fired tile they are only suitable for internal use.

A very beautiful and unusual floor that would grace any Master House.

240+ tiles plus 20+ free reject tiles for cutting and keying.