3.7m2 / 40 sq ft. Mosaic themed French ceramic floor - 1920's

A small mosaic-themed French ceramic floor produced by Compagnie Francaise Mosaique Ceramique de Maubeuge (NORD) in the 1920's, the tiles are reverse stamped MCM FRANCE. For provenance, we include in the gallery scans from their original catalogue presenting the tiles. Designed in the faux-mosaique style, which created the visual impression of a floor consisting of thousands of individual mosaic pieces, the reality was that the tiles were solid and square. The design was introduced in the late 19th century, gaining popularity into the 20th century before experiencing a renaissance again in the 1920's and 1930's.

Total surface area is 3.7m2 / 40 sq ft

The 14.5cm / 5.7 inches sq., 17mm / 0.67 inch-thick tiles offer up stylised star-themed motif in aubergine, with sky-blue diamond accents & mid-grey piping on a white slip. Having been fully restored to its original beauty, it arrives ready to relay and is framed by its mosaic-themed half-sized border tiles, taking from the same palette. The floor has been restored well, revealing heavy quality ceramics. A few tiles bear groutable small chips or edge nibbles commensurate with their age of over 100 years.

A perfect, unique and practical floor for a small bathroom (or a larger one framed with a complimentary modern ceramic or antique wood), a porch, toilet, mud room...

Tile quantities

MOSAIC FIELD tiles - 145 - 3m2 / 32.3 sq. ft

HALF SIZED BORDER tiles - 70 - 0.7m2 / 7.5 sq. ft. or 9.9 linear metres / 32.6 linear ft.

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.