INCREDIBLY SMALL AND WELL PROPORTIONED LOUIS PHILIPPE "PALMETTES" FIREPLACE IN YELLOW FLORAL MARBLE, 1840-60 ERA, EXCELLENT PRESERVATION, PROVENANCE FRANCE.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A FIREPLACE THAT IS GRACEFUL, TRULY ANTIQUE, AND MAYBE EVEN ... SMALL!?
WELL, THEN THIS FIREPLACE WILL REALLY DO THE TRICK.... HE'S A GOOD-LOOKING GUY, THE SERIOUS KIND LIKE ONLY ONCE THERE WAS, HE'S GOT A NICE PROFILE AND HE'S SLIM OF WAIST, A NICE PHYSIQUE, IN SHORT, LEAN AND MANLY, REALLY A GOOD-LOOKING GUY....
WHY DO I TALK ABOUT ITS GENDER?
WELL BECAUSE FIREPLACES ARE DIVIDED, LIKE HUMANS, INTO THE TWO CANONICAL SEXES, MALE AND FEMALE? THE MALE IS THE LOUIS XVI, THE EMPIRE, THE DIRECTOIRE OR, AS IN OUR CASE, THE LOUIS PHILIPPE.. THE MALE, IN FACT, HAS STRAIGHTER LINES, AND SERIOUS...
THE FEMALES ARE ALL IN THE STYLES LOUIS XV (THE MORE PROCUBESCENT ONES), LOUIS XIV (THE "MANAGER" TYPE ONES, A LITTLE SERIOUS, IN SHORT..), OR REGENCY (OF THE "WOMAN-WOMAN" TYPE, À LA VECCHIONI, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY) ... THE FEMALE, IN FACT, MUST (OR ELSE IT'S A PROBLEM, ISN'T IT?!) HAVE FIRM CURVES AND SOFT LINES, POSSIBLY SENSUAL ...
IT WILL BE EASY FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND THIS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GENDER OF FIREPLACES BY TAKING A LITTLE STROLL THROUGH THE SECTIONS, PRECISELY, OF THE STYLES MENTIONED ABOVE...
OBVIOUSLY ALSO IN THE GENDER OF MANTELS WE HAVE SOME "BORDERLINE" EXCEPTIONS (THEY ARE THE ONLY WORDS I KNOW IN ENGLISH, BESIDES YES..), SOME FIREPLACES THAT CAN BE DEFINED AS "BISEXUAL" OR "TRANSEX," BUT HERE THE DISCUSSION WOULD BE TOO LONG AND I DON'T WANT TO BORE YOU, MAYBE WE WILL TALK ABOUT IT IN ANOTHER AND MORE APPROPRIATE SITUATION...
HAVING HAD THIS LITTLE LECTURE ON THE GENDER OF ANCIENT FIREPLACES, LET US COME TO OUR LILLIPUTIAN PALMETTES.
THIS MANTEL WAS, OF COURSE, SCULPTED TO BE PLACED IN A BEDROOM, AND THIS IS MOST CONVENIENT FOR US, SINCE OUR PARLORS (WHICH SOME STILL INSIST ON CALLING “SALONS...”) SINCE OUR PARLORS, I WAS SAYING, LOOK MORE AND MORE LIKE ANTIQUE ENTRANCES, AND THEREFORE REQUIRE UNOBTRUSIVE FIREPLACES IN TERMS OF SIZE.
ITS SURFACES HAVE A TRULY ENVIABLE PATINA, AND ITS SCULPTURE IS OF A GOOD STANDARD. INTERESTING, IN THIS REGARD (SEE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE RIGHT..) TO NOTE THE SCULPTOR'S CARE IN THE FRAME (BAGUETTE), WHICH HE HAS FITTED WITH TWO SMALL AND VERY GRACEFUL GROOVES. WHEN EVEN SUCH A SMALL DETAIL IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, BELIEVE ME, IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT THE SCULPTURAL FIREPLACE IS OF THE ... “GOOD” KIND.
