10.25m2+ / 110 sq. ft French damier with lush borders

A traditional French damier ceramic encaustic floor dating from the 1920s and manufactured by Societe Morialme, the two field tiles are reverse stamped MCM FRANCE.

Total surface area is 10.25m2 / 110 sq ft.

There are two field tiles, both 14.5cm / 5.7 inches sq; the plain grey is 13mm / 0.5 inches thick and the grey diamond on an off-white slip is 17mm / 0.67 inches thick. The difference in thickness contributes to the difficulty of photographing them together without them appearing 'in-relief' and the photographs also create the impression of very different tones. The reality is that, while the two greys are not identical, they are certainly very close*.

The floor is sold with a 15cm / 5.9 inch, 17mm / 0.67 inches thick antique border tile of a lush, fluid white motif on a charcoal slip. Made by Boucquey et Winckelman Lille (for provenance we include scans of the tiles from their period catalogue in the gallery) the border beautifully accents and frames a traditional chessboard principal lay, and more borders are available should they be required.

Suitable for a lay inside or outside the home and ideal for underfloor heating systems, the floor has restored very well revealing quality ceramics; a small number of tiles bear edge nibbles or small groutable chips but, as a consequence, offer a lovely patina, as the high resolution photographs show.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two;

PLAIN GREY FIELD tiles - 200 - 4.25m2 / 45.7 sq. ft

DIAMOND FIELD tiles - 191 - 4m2 / 43 sq. ft

LARGE BORDER tiles - 90 - 2m2 / 21.5 sq. ft 

*We can, should you require it, send sample shards of the two tiles so you can see the comparatives.

NOTE Antique tiles were most commonly made in single or two tile moulds. Before current computer automation methods their moulds were made by hand and the colour slips mixed by eye. Kiln temperatures could also be variable, as could the firing time. The result is that tiles often 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.