A 3.5m2 French gres cerame floor c.1920-1930

A small, ornate antique French ceramic floor, in a predominantly pink palette, consisting of a principal field tile and its same size borders, which can be laid either in duplicate, back to back, or as a single tile lay. We present both options in the photo gallery. The floor was reclaimed from a small entrance porch and there are no border corner tiles with the floor as the border tiles were originally laid top and bottom to the field tiles ie on two sides only, rather than framing the floor.

The floor was produced in the 1920's by Manufacture de Carrelages Mosaiques Boucquey et Winckelmans, Usine de la Croix Pierre, Lomme, Pres de Lille, NORD. During the 1920's the company was a joint venture although Winckelmans are still trading to this day, being one of the few heritage French tile producers to still be.

These 15cm sq tiles, c.15mm thick, are made from Gres Cerame (stoneware). The total surface area of the floor is c.3.5m2 / 38 sq ft.

Displayed in the gallery, alongside scans from the period Boucquey and Winckelmans catalogue presenting the tiles, are photographs of a 1m2+ randomly selected  section of the floor, which is in excellent condition. Alongside this floor, shown on the left of the B&W catalogue page, are the same tiles but in another palette. We have reclaimed c.18m2 / 194 sq ft of these tiles from the same house close to Cambrai in the north of France and, given their identical design, it may present options for use in another area with this smaller floor. More details and photographs of the larger floor can be found by clicking here

NOTE:- Given the cost of transport for a small surface as this, it is highly likely that it will only be economically viable to ship these tiles if they are part of a larger order.

Tile quantities by tile type:-

Field tiles - 133 - 3m2 / 32.2 sq ft.

Border tiles - 21 - 0.5m2 / 5.4 sq ft*

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.