17.5m2 / 188 sq ft - Early 20th century Perrusson floor with a superb antique patina

Totalling c.17.5m2 / 188 sq ft. an antique French ceramic floor manufactured by Perrusson Fils Desfontaines Ecuisses in the early twentieth century.

If you are looking for an ornate heritage floor with a superb patina that immediately says ‘120 years old’, this is a candidate floor. Owing to the handmade production of each individual tile, there is tonal variation apparent in the palette, as evidenced in the high-resolution photos of a random section of the floor. Additionally, tile thickness is variable and, in the case of a dozen or so tiles, there was evidently an incident during their firing, over a hundred years ago, when red-hot coke exploded in the kiln, burying itself into the tiles. This was caused by moisture being present in the tiles during the firing and has left surface scars. We have shown examples of these in the photo gallery in photos 21 & 22. There are no issues regarding their robustness (they have already been walked on for around 120 years!) and they add to the charm and uniqueness of handmade tiles.

The floor comprises three separate 17cm / 6.7 inches sq field tiles with the central blue tile being the anchor. We have also shown that the floor can be laid in another way, excluding this blue field tile and using just the two field tiles. There are a few same-sized border tiles available, some 34, insufficient to frame the floor, but they could be used to top and tail the floor. Three photos of the floor, pre-lifting from its original Burgundian home, close to Chalon-Sur-Saone, are also included in the gallery.

This is a unique and complex design, and we would be happy, working from a sketch with key dimensions that you provide, to look at the best fit aesthetically in the room of your choice. We can also produce a technical floor plan for the tiler, as a guide to laying the floor.

Tile quantities:-

BLUE FLORAL FIELD tiles – 102 – 2.9m2 / 31 sq ft.
MOTIF FIELD 'A' tiles  – 252 – 7.3m2 / 78.5 sq ft.
MOTIF FIELD 'B' tiles – 215 – 6.2m2 / 66.7 sq ft.
LARGE BORDER tiles – 34 plus 3 corner tiles – 1.1m2 / 11.8 sq ft or 6.3 linear metres / 20.6 linear feet.

Ceramiques Perrusson, Ecluses - A brief history...

Jean-Marie Perrusson was not only known for ceramic tile production but also for the production of bricks and roof tiles. Many of the lozenge themed terracotta mechanical tiles in Burgundy bear the Perrusson hallmark. He built his first brick making factory in 1860 and started mechanical tile production in 1863, to which he added a workshop for manufacturing ceramic tiles in 1875. Further expansion of the ceramic tile production in the Saône-et-Loire was initiated (in Saint-Julien-sur-Dheune in 1866, St. Pantaleon 1870), and even beyond the department (in Sancoins Cher in 1870 and Fontafié in Charente in 1878).

The company was renamed ‘Perrusson Fils et Desfontaines’ in 1890 and the factory also manufactured architectural ceramics and statues. In April 1960 the factory finally closed its doors. The vast majority of the original buildings constructed in 1890/1900 are destroyed with the offices, changing rooms of the factory, the concierge and the electrical workshop the only significant remnants of the site that can still be seen. We have included some photographs below of the factory both recently and from the period  of its peak.

The Perrusson factory employed 40 workers in 1860, 80 by 1874, 130 in 1890, 300 at its peak in 1900, 280 in 1930 and 130 during 1945 to 1950.

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.

Condition 
All of our floors go through rigorous quality control during the restoration process. We include tiles which have groutable small chips and edge nibbles, expected of tiles more than 100 years old, but include for free any rejects, which the tiler can then use for off-cuts. The photographs in the gallery are of a c.1.5m2 / 16 sq ft. randomly taken sample of the larger floor and are therefore representative of the whole floors condition and patina.

Can we help?
If you can provide a technical drawing, or a simple sketch with key dimensions, we are happy to assist in evaluating and recommending the best layout of the floor in your area of choice.