THIS FIREPLACE, PUBLISHED BOTH IN THE “BARGAIN FIREPLACES” SECTION AND IN THE “STONE FIREPLACES” SECTION, IS PART OF A LOT OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY FIREPLACES PURCHASED EN BLOC FROM AN EMILIAN WRECKER WHO COLLECTED AND SAVED THEM DURING HIS WORK IN EMILIA AND LOWER LOMBARDY.
HENCE ITS PARTICULARLY LOW PRICE.
First of all, I must tell you how this fireplace was cleaned by us for a lady from Turin who, according to her, had fallen in love with it and had decided to come all the way to us to load it and take it home (thus taking advantage of the 100 discount we give to those who decide to come and load their fireplace directly instead of waiting for it at home on their laps). That way, this lady told us, I could also view it and not only save us a pretty penny....
WE NEVER SAW HER AGAIN, OUR TURIN LADY....
And the fireplace, I, now, mica I can dirty it to simulate its greater age.
DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC MANTEL:
Like all its brethren, this fireplace was carved entirely by hand, without the aid of pantographs or modern mechanical devilry.
Its stone is a stone whose family is generically called “Serena” and in particular, in the case of our fireplace, it is the quarry called “Sarnico Stone,” a material famous for its excellent quality and hardness.
In this regard, I would like to make you think about this:
Keep in mind that the family of this stone is Sandstone, in essence, sand “pressed” by time, and very often (NOT ALWAYS BUT VERY VERY SO) the Serena stone that one buys nowadays is easily “flaking”, something that does not happen to the stone from which our fireplace was made.
How come, you may ask?
Simple, once upon a time the buyer knew the criteria for choosing the stone, was, in short, able to assess its quality well. In addition to this, the abundance of material was such that one could also afford to choose the best quarrying areas, something that today, whether due to a just “curb” on indiscriminate quarrying, or due to the already considerable exploitation that this stone has experienced, is no longer possible to implement.
Let us hold tightly, therefore, the beautiful quality of the Serena stone that our stonemason has carefully selected and worked, it is a small and soon to be unrepeatable Heritage.
HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO INFORM THOSE WHO WILL READ THESE LINES THAT, BEYOND A FEW DECADES MORE OR LESS, THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT OF THIS SPECIMEN LIES IN ITS HAVING BEEN CARVED ENTIRELY BY HAND, WITHOUT THE AID OF “DRILLS,” “MECHANICAL CHISELS,” LET ALONE PANTOGRAPHS.
AND WITH MUCH, MUCH AND LOVING, QUALITY CRAFTSMANSHIP!!!
