Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/585

 1869.] Plain and Encaustic Tiles, for Floors. 475 of building, are fast rendering them an indispensable feature in every instance, where any pretensions to architectural beauty or style, are aimed at. The price of the plain tiles is lower than that of marble ; and that of the more orna- mented description, although at the first a little higher, still, when we consider their indestructibility, durability, and the variety of the designs, is compara- tively cheaper, by far, than marble. The colors of the plain or cheaper tiles, are composed of red, black, buff, blue, chocolate, and green ; and, by means of a judicious combination of these, a great and pleasing variety of patterns can be formed. The size of each tile is six inches square, or octagon six inches diameter, filled in with squares of two inches each. Their uniform size allows them to be packed in a very small space ; twelve square feet making one square foot solid ; and weighing one hundred and twenty -five pounds. These have been used for a great number of churches, as well as public halls, custom-houses, banks, hotels, stores, halls, vestibules and conservatories, and have uniformly given entire satisfaction. Their extremely low cost places them within the reach of the great mass of our people ; aud the demand for such an inexpensive and at the same time beautiful and durable decorative mate- rial for the flooring of our edifices is steadily increasing. The diversity of patterns, in which they are procurable, renders it practica- ble for individuals to select those most suitable to their own taste, to the style of the building, and purpose of the flooring space for which they are re- quired. We will give a short descrip- tion of the two different kinds, the plain and the inlaid tiles, which are manufactured and imported in large quantities from Messrs. Minton, Hollins & Co.'s works, in Staffordshire, England, for which S. A. Harrison, Esq., of 1010 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, is the Agent in the United States, and to whom we are indebted for much valua- ble information on the subject. The plain tiles are of various sizes, from half an inch to six inches across, and each is of one color, extending en- tirely through the whole substance, and with perfect uniformity of tint. They are of two thicknesses, half an inch and one inch ; the former being considered strong enough for any purposes, except paving warehouses. The shapes are geometric, as squares, hexagons, octa- gons, and their parts, so that an almost endless variety of changes can be made in the arrangement of the figures. The inlaid tiles are rectangular, one inch thick, generally six inches square, and it is to these that the term " En- caustic" is applied, arising, as the mean- ing of the term itself, " burnt in," will suggest, from the peculiar manner of their manufacture. The plain tiles are formed by the com- pression of an amalgamation of alumina, silex, and barytes, with some suitable metallic oxide for coloring matter, into metal dies of any geometrical form, that may be desired ; after being taken out of these dies, they undergo the pro- cess of " firing" in kilns ; and here great care is necessary, as well as in the com- position of the substances of which they are formed, in order that the necessary process of semi-vitrification may not be carried so far as the point of vitrification, as, should such be done, the surface of the tiles would be rendered so slippery, as to make them unfit for paving pur- poses. Where, however, these tiles are designed, as they occasionally are, for the ornamentation of walls, the process can be continued until the desired amount of glazing is obtained. The manufacture of Encaustic Tiles is somewhat more complicated, and has been brought to its present state of per- fection, only after years of unremitting perseverance, repeated failures, and large expenditure of capital. The first step is the digging and grinding the