Information
Original authentic farmer's tiles in the color salmon/orange. De Opkamer always has large batches of antique terracotta peasant tiles in stock. The antique tiles are cleaned by us, cleaned and selected by size and color.

Production

At the beginning of the 18th century, river clay was mixed, kneaded and formed into a terracotta tile or flagstone. The format was often 16 cm x 16 cm or 22 cm x 22 cm. The formation of the terracotta tile was done by hand. That is why the term "hand-formed tiles" comes from. Subsequently, the terracotta tiles were too dry in the sun to evaporate as much water from the clay as possible.

After the tiles were placed in the ovens, the oven was stoked. Around 570 degrees the quartz leap occurs in the ovens where quartz crystals chemically rearrange and the terracotta floor tile expands. From 600 degrees the clay becomes harder, firmer and more waterproof. The trick was to burn as high as possible without letting the baking process fail. Because in the beginning the ovens could not get so hot, the old French terracotta pits are often softer.