Small 6m2 / 65 sq ft. triple border antique Belgian ceramic

A classically designed antique Belgian ceramic floor, dating from the 1930's, in a cool palette of blue, grey and charcoal on an off-white slip. The tiles are reverse stamped 'W' Made in Belgium', having been manufactured in the municipality of Welkenraedt, Wallonia, an area well known for its ceramic tile production from the mid-19th and well into the 20th centuries.

The total surface area is 6m2 / 65 sq ft

This is a triple-border floor with a half-sized border top-and-tailing a full-sized border. The principal field tiles and large borders are 14.5cm / 5.7 inches square. The design has a stylized floral theme but is also strongly geometric and navigational, with a single repeating tile instead of a four-tile motif tessellation.

The floor has restored well, its condition is excellent and the 15mm / 0.6 inch-thick tiles are good ceramics offering consistent colours.

Tile quantities, give or take one or two:-

FIELD tiles - 200 - 4m2 / 44 sq. ft

LARGE BORDER tiles - 53 - 1.1m2 / 11.6 sq ft - 7.7 linear metres / 25.2 linear feet

HALF-SIZED BORDER tiles - 92 - 0.9m2 / 10.1 sq ft. - 13.3 linear metres / 43.7 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.