To 19m2+ / 205 sq ft. antique French damier floor with single border frame

A classical French damier floor, totalling up to 19m2+ / 205 sq ft, reclaimed from the entrance hall of a town house in Levis Saint-Nom, a village some 44kms south-west of Paris. Produced by the heritage ceramic house of Carrelages Ceramiques Boch Freres, Maubeuge, France we would date the floor to the decade of the 1920's. For provenance, we include in the photo gallery a couple of scans from the original Boch Freres catalogue presenting the tiles.

The floor is ceramic and consists of four tiles, three being the main field tiles and the fourth, a half-sized border tile which frames the floor. The lay is a traditional damier-checkerboard with the twist of an ornate motif field tile present; the sky blue, charcoal and off-white palette for this tile is replicated in the half-sized border framing the floor. This Boch Freres motif tile is a version of an earlier tile from the beginning of the 20th century and which can be seen by clicking here, the only difference being the size of the tile, with the earlier version being 14.7cm / 5.8 inches square and this one 14cm / 5.5 inches square.

For photography of the floor, we have replicated how the floor appeared in its original lay, a diagonal lay to the borders, and this is the reason for the presence of a large quantity of triangles of the grey field tile. We supply these triangles, totalling 2m2, free and, if used, they would take the floor surface to c.19m2/205 sq ft. There are options available for laying the floor in different ways within the tile quantities available, which are detailed below. For the three field tiles, there are virtually an equal number of motif and grey tiles but a smaller number of the mottled grey tiles. We will be happy to assist you with looking at a potential layout in your area and can produce technical floor plans.

There are some variations in the tile thicknesses, with the Boch Freres motif and border tiles being thicker than the two grey tiles by a few millimeters, something the tiler will compensate for when laying the floor. As the photographs of a randomly selected section of the whole floor show, it has restored very well and is in excellent condition. Commensurate with their age, a few tiles display grout-able edge nibbles or small chips. 

This is a classical floor lending itself to many potential applications; an entrance hall, kitchen or outside as a garden path or on a patio. Subtle, discreet but with a classical creative impact, it will also work very well with under-floor heating systems.

Tile quantities, give ot take one or two:-

MOTIF FIELD tiles - 345 - 6.75m2 / 72.7 sq ft

MOTTLED GREY FIELD tiles – 120 - 2.4m2 / 25.8 sq ft

DARK GREY FIELD tiles – 325 - 6.4m2 / 68.5 sq ft

* plus 100 diagonal half tiles (see photos) - supplied FREE - c.2m2 / 21.5 sq ft

HALF-SIZED BORDER tiles - 150 plus 4 corners - 1.5m2 / 16 sq ft or 21 linear metres / 69 linear feet

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.