42.3m2+/ 456 sq ft antique Belgian Chimay floor with original borders
A bold and expansive antique ceramic floor, reclaimed from the town of Chimay, Belgium and dating to just before WWI. Totalling an impressive c.42.3m² / 456 sq ft with its original large borders and border corner tiles intact, this restored and ready-to-lay floor showcases in its design a striking Art Deco rhythm, decades ahead of its time.
The field tiles are a study in geometry—clean lines, interlocking patterns, and a subtle and calm palette of primrose blue, misty blue-green, mid-grey, burgundy accents and off-white. The design and palette lending the surface depth and movement. It’s not just a floor—it’s a slow tide in tile form.
Both the field tiles and border tiles are 14.5cm / 5.7 inch square. We have taken a random section of the restored floor, representative of the whole, for photography and it reveals a floor in very good condition, displaying a charming antique patina; a small number of tiles have groutable edge nibbles or small chips and a few tiles display small surface capillary cracks formed as a natural consequence of the production process of the tiles during firing and cooling over a century ago. The original borders frame the field tiles with precision, completing the composition with a sense of clarity and order that reflects the early modernist eye.
Highly fired and durable, the floor can be laid indoors or outdoors. For those seeking a statement—something unapologetically bold, yet grounded in design history—this is a rare and beautiful find.
Tiles quantities by tile type:-
FIELD TILES - 1,765 - 37m2 / 399 sq ft.
LARGE BORDERS - 240 plus 12 corners - 5.3m2 / 57 sq ft. or 36.5 linear metres / 120 linear ft.
NOTE Antique tiles were most commonly made in single or two tile moulds. Before current computer automation methods their moulds were made my hand and the colour slips mixed by eye. Kiln temperatures could also be variable, as could the firing time. The result is that often tiles 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.
MAD79