Hand painted, these smooth and strikingly contemporary-looking tiles are actually based on 17th century delft originals.

These traditional yet modern wall tiles have been sourced by De Ferranti from a small family firm who specialise in the production and research of old ‘Delft’ ceramics. This type of tile was traditionally used at skirting level in Netherlands houses because the ceramic kept the damp at bay better than timber.

Another popular use was that they were often assembled as a wall panel and placed behind an open fireplace, where the tiles became very sooty but didn’t very usefully show the marks. After being layered with manganese or an iron ferrous engobe, each of the tiles is dried and baked at 1,000 degrees C before being glazed and baked once more at very high temperature. Despite their antiquity, these Delft tiles look amazingly contemporary.