Except for some construction refinements (details of which I will be able to give de visu proof to those who come to our exhibition), this Art Deco model, all in all, follows rather rigidly the dictates of the time (1930s and 1940s) in which it was carved. ITS GREAT BEAUTY, or rather, ITS MAJOR ATTRACTION, consists (in my opinion, eh, maybe someone may even think otherwise..) IN ITS MARBLE, A CHOICEED QUALITY OF BRECCIA MEDICEA MARBLE , IN WHICH A PURE CANDOR MAKES A CULL AND BACKGROUND TO REFINED VENATURES WITH SHADES OF INDEFINABLE COLOR, BETWEEN BLEU AND GREEN.. INDEFINABLE BUT CERTAINLY... AFFASCINATING.
Also interesting is the fact that we also recovered the footboard (which is to be mounted flush with the floor level and NEVER as a “plinth/rise above the floor, which would make for a very ‘cemetery effect’) because this combination brings one right back to the time when our fireplace was born.. Many do not know what said platform is used for and I will reveal the mystery: When the wife (because in those days it was the women who cleaned the hearth from the ashes, not like today, that it is us little boys commanded by our Virago to perform these household chores)... what was I saying? Ah... yes, when the wife would scoop the ashes out of the hearth, no matter how careful she was, a little ash would drop from the bottom of the scoop and WOULD HAVE FALLEN ON THE WOODEN FLOOR IF THE PADDLE HAD NOT BEEN PRESENT!!!
This mantel is in perfect condition, was dismantled by us in Montmartre and dates to the decade between 1930 and 1940.
N.B: I DON'T USUALLY COMMENT ON PRICES BUT THIS TIME I FEEL LIKE SAYING THAT A FIREPLACE AS RARE AS RARE ARE THOSE FEW PERIOD AND DECO' STYLE EXAMPLES STILL ON THE MARKET, MOREOVER CARVED IN A MARBLE NOT ONLY EXTREMELY REFINED BUT ALSO EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE, MOREOVER PROVIDED WITH ITS ORIGINAL FOOTBOARD... WELL, MAYBE A FEW EXTRA EUROS SHOULD BE WORTH IT...
