5.5m2 / 59 s ft. antique French Douvrin ceramic floor

A small antique French ceramic floor, reclaimed, restored and ready to relay.

The floor was manufactured by Etbs Carrelages Ceramiques de Douvrin, Pas-de-Calais in the early part of the twentieth century.

Totalling 5.5m2 / 59 sq ft., it consists of a 14cm / 5.5 inch sq field tile, a same-sized shell-themed border, itself framed by a half-sized band border, there are 4 large border corners and 7 small border corners available.

Ideal for a small kitchen or bathroom, it is also well-suited, given the large number of border tiles, to a lay in an entrance hallway.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

FIELD tiles - 87- 1.7m2 / 18.4 sq. ft.

LARGE BORDER tiles - 90 plus 4 corners - 1.8m2 / 19.8 sq. ft or 13.2 linear metres / 43.2 linear feet.

HALF-SIZED BORDER tiles - 190 plus 7 corners - 1.9m2 / 20.5 sq ft. or 26.6 linear metres / 87.3 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.