18.75m2+ Bold antique French ceramic floor in blues and yellows

Reclaimed from the reception room of a house in the town of Iwuy, Nord Pas de Calais this ceramic floor dates from the late 19th / early 20th century and consists of a principal ceramic field tile, 16cm square, framed by a 14.2cm sq border tile. The design is bold and stylized and offers an excellent and simple tessellation across four tiles in a palette that embraces sky blue, greys, chocolate brown, yellow/amber and dark red with white piping. Owing to their handmade production in small batches the tiles offer subtle variations in colour tones as can be evidenced in the high resolution photographs below. The accompanying border is ornate and frames the floor well, having a complimentary palette and there are three border corner tiles available for the series, requiring that one be mitre cut.

The floor was manufactured by Ceramiques Simons & Cie, who were established in Le Cateau, Nord Pas de Calais in 1869. A scan from their original catalogue below shows the border tile and we have also included a photo montage of their, now derelict, production factory.

The tiles are in good condition, some edge nibbles and small chips are evident but all groutable and adding to the charm of the floor and the border tiles particularly display a pleasing antique patina. The floor has cleaned well of years of old wax and arrives ready to relay, inside or outside of the home. 

This is a floor which we feel deserves to be the talking point in a room and would perhaps, given its sky blue and yellows, lend itself to a conservatory or kitchen. The floor will not require sealing once laid as the ceramic is dense and the surface porosity very low; a regular wash is all that will be required to retain its beauty.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

Field tiles - 660 tiles - 17m2 / 183 sq ft

Border tiles - 85 plus 3 corners - 1.76m2 / 19 sq ft. or 12.6 linear metres / 41 linear feet.