Where they are made

The press is a hydraulic one from the sixties that came out of a yard in Bellville when it shut. Fine cement, marble dust and pigment are mixed to a slurry and poured into a brass mould by hand, one colour at a time, then a dry backing layer goes on top and the whole lot takes twenty tonnes for about eight seconds. That is the entire manufacture. There is no kiln anywhere on the property. After the press the tile goes onto a rack under plastic and stays wet for twenty-eight days. Rush that and it chalks a year later. It also means the colour is never twice the same: the pigment is weighed, but cement is a farm product and a grey bag from January is not a grey bag from June. Order the whole floor in one go and lay it shuffled out of four or five boxes and the variation reads as depth. Order it in two lots six months apart and you will see the line.