ART NOUVEAU CAST IRON FIREPLACE DATING BACK TO THE LAST YEARS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, EXCELLENT STATE OF PRESERVATION OF BOTH THE CAST IRON “CHIMNEY-COUNTER HEARTH” PART AND THE BLACK MARQUINIA MARBLE TOP, PARISIAN PROVENANCE .
AT THE CENTER OF ITS COUNTERSCORE IS DEPICTED, WITHIN A FANTASTIC PERLAGE OVAL, A PUTTO WITH SWEET PLUMP NUDITY (IT LOOKS LIKE A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FIGURE SCULPTED BY BUONARROTI) ON THE BACK OF WHOSE HAND A DOVE IS RESTING.
BOTH DEPICTIONS HAVE THE CHARM OF THEIR PURITY AND ARE A WISH FOR PEACE AND SERENITY.
BUT IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BACKDROP, ALL WORKED “A TAPISSERIE,” TAPESTRY COMPOSED OF A THOUSAND RHOMBUSES WITHIN EACH OF WHICH SHINE THE RAYS OF A STAR.
AT PRESENT THE FINISH OF THE CAST IRON SURFACE IS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH MORE THAN CENTURIES-OLD TRADITION, WITH “GRAPHITE” TREATMENT, BUT, AT THE REQUEST AND CHOICE OF THE CUSTOMER (IN THIS CASE UPON PAYMENT IN ADVANCE) WE MAY ALSO PAINT THE SURFACES IN QUESTION WITH HEAT-RESISTANT COLORS CHOSEN BY THE CUSTOMER.
IT WOULD BE A SMALL CRIME, BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO, THE GOOD WEATHER IS GONE AND THINGS CHANGE..
GENERAL NOTES ON LARCHER'S SIGNATURE CAST-IRON FIREPLACES:
THE LARCHER FAMILY (WHOSE MEMBERS WERE ALL SOMEWHAT ARTISTS, ALBEIT IN DIFFERENT FIELDS) PRODUCED, OVER THE COURSE OF 30 OR 40 YEARS (LET'S SAY, JUST TO GIVE YOU A CONCRETE IDEA, FROM ABOUT 1880 TO 1920) SEVERAL MODELS OF THESE SMALL CAST-IRON FIREPLACES WITH ATTACHED BACKSPOUTS.
NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MANY OF THESE MODELS THERE ARE, I HAVE COUNTED AND COLLECTED OVER ALMOST HALF A CENTURY AT LEAST A DOZEN AND AT PRESENT WE HAVE ABOUT FIFTEEN SPECIMENS IN STORAGE, MOSTLY OF THE FAMOUS (THE MOST WIDESPREAD AND “EASY” TO FIND) MODEL BY THE PARISIANS APPALLED AS THE CHEMINEE BEBÉ PAR EXCELLENCE.
THE LATTER CAN BE SEEN IN THIS SAME SECTION OF THE SITE AT CODE 001GH.
IT SEEMS THAT THIS SPECIFIC SPECIMEN HAS BEEN SOLD AND IN THIS CASE WE WILL RESTORE ANOTHER SIMILAR SPECIMEN BUT WITH CAST IRON TOP (WITH MARBLE TOPS WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO SPECIMENS).
THESE FIREPLACES, IN FACT, COULD HAVE EITHER A CAST IRON OR A MARBLE TOP, DEPENDING ON THE REQUEST OF THE ANCIENT BUYER.
