There is always a special atmosphere in a Directoire fireplace, for me a kind of aesthetic elevation, pure refinement or, if you like, refined purity (and no pun intended).
In essence, almost all Directoire fireplaces (at least almost all fair Antique ones and not stylistic later refurbishments) possess an aura as say.... noble, in spite of the political and ideological moment that the same style generated..
Perhaps this impression of mine depends on the fact that, in contrast to later stylistic families, starting with the Empire, Directoire fireplaces are always “unique pieces,” designed by a specific architect on commission from a specific client. The seriality that would later mark the production of fireplaces from the early nineteenth century to the present day did not exist at that last historical moment.
The proof of what I am asserting?
Nothing simpler:
Think of the names of later fireplaces, such as “Griffe de Lion” in the case of the Empire style, “Palmettes” or “Modillon” in the case of Louis Philippe fireplaces, “Trois Coquilles” or “Pompadour” in the case of Louis XV fireplaces, “Demi-Lune” or “Trois Fleurs” in the case of Louis XVI or Second Empire or Napoleon III fireplaces you name it...
If a fireplace model possesses a name, it is because several Mantels were made of that model, and this occurrence is not recorded, EVER, before the Directoire period, starting, backwards, right from the Directoire period...
I HAVE BORED YOU, HAVEN'T I, WITH THESE HISTORICAL-STYLISTIC DISQUISITIONS OF MINE!
IT'S NOT THAT I WANT TO BE A FREAK/SMART/KNOW IT ALL/I'M STRONGER ON FIREPLACES THAN VITTORIO SGARBI ETC... THE FACT IS THAT I LIKE TO KNOW THAT I HAVE TOLD, TO THE POSSIBLE READER-BUYER-INTERESTED-ENTHUSIAST, EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT THAT FIREPLACE OR, AS IN THIS CASE, ITS FAMILY TO WHICH IT BELONGS. I FIND THAT, WERE I IN THE PLACE OF MY POSSIBLE CUSTOMER, I WOULD BE PLEASED TO BE MADE AWARE OF AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THE OBJECT OF MY DESIRE.
AFTER ALL, ONE IS NOT BUYING AN INDUSTRIAL FIREPLACE HERE, BUT A PIECE OF HISTORY AND ART.
Returning to our specific Mantel, we can say that it is a rare Directoire fireplace in which an attempt was made to combine the “masculine” part of its architecture (clearly neoclassical) with the “feminine” part of its sinuous and very elegant Pompeian columnar decorations, a melange that in my opinion was very successful, a marriage that “just had to be done.”
The purity of the materials (particularly the Bianco Candido of the Carrara Statuary), then, goes to complete a most refined overall picture.
PARIS, LATE 1700S/EARLY 1800S, AMATEUR PATINA, VERY GOOD STATE OF PRESERVATION, AS IS ALSO EVIDENT FROM THESE PICTURES TAKEN BEFORE WE DISMANTLED IT.
