The Belgian tile museum.
In the run-up to Open Monuments Day 2006, Amfora's Belgian Tile Museum was opened. Since then, the carefully built up private collection of the Brans family has been open not only to their customers, but also to the general public.
As no Belgian museum has a significant collection of antique floor and wall tiles to date, this private initiative means that, for the first time in Belgium, a representative collection of Belgian tiles from the Belle-Epoque era can now be viewed.
In the museum section, visitors will get a good idea of what was produced between 1860 and 1920.
In the field of wall tiles, in addition to various high-quality tile panels, Amfora also has several tile friezes and a large variety of tile friezes and individual wall tiles from well-known Belgian workshops and factories including Boch Frères - La Louvière, Maison Helman Céramiques d'art -Bruxelles, Manufacture de Céramiques Décoratives - Majoliques de Hasselt, Manufacture Céramiques d'Hemiksem - Gilliot Frères, etc. Several tiles from the smaller workshops are also present in each case.
Of particular importance is of course the very large collection of floor tiles, most of which originate from Belgium. The tiles come from places such as Amay, Bourlers, Chimay, Morialmé, Hemiksem and Welkenraedt.
The presence of quite a few French floor tiles including Boulanger- Auneuil, and to a lesser extent material from Germany - Villeroy & Boch and England - Minton allows for mutual comparison and situates Belgian production in its broad historical-geographical context.
The whole is further complemented by various documentation material. Several photo books give visitors an excellent picture of how tiles were used in the past and how they can still be admired in situ today, both in Belgium and in neighbouring countries.
It all fits seamlessly into the professional activities of the Brans family, who over the years have become passionate about the great aesthetic material qualities of these tiles and have specialised in their recovery.
Thanks to the wide range of recovered wall tiles and the exceptionally wide choice of recovered floor tiles, each of which has been cleaned, the Brans family today plays an important role in restorations and other projects at home and abroad. By opening up their private collection, they are adding another dimension.
Mario Baeck.
Belgian tile historian.
