The person who carved in Levanto Red marble the fireplace I am presenting to you is the mythical sculptor Boudin, a sympathetic “fanatic” of French Grandeur, of Napoleon in particular, but also (and he couldn't help but be) of the equally mythical Sun King, Louis XIV, the one who in Versailles created the most beautiful maison in the world.
Well, this gentleman was rather “autarkic” and it was not easy to get him to carve a fireplace in non-native marbles, however, this time he had to yield (and I am sure that never was a more pleasing rendering) to the happy chromaticism of our Rosso Levanto (Ligurian marble, or rather “spezzino” marble..), a most noble mixture of colors that had so fascinated the Etruscans and then again the Romans..
I feel I can affirm that our Boudin (you may think I am crazy but...I have been stroking this gentleman's fireplaces for four decades and sometimes I feel I know for sure what he was thinking when he was working.... I mean... I empathize, with a confidence that surprises myself first...) I feel to say, I was saying, that Boudin decided on the use of Levanto marble partly because of its very remarkable hardness (which is the prime strength of marble) and its equally remarkable polishability..
Boudin mantels may or may not appeal, but they are always of the highest quality of construction, no economies were made in the sculpture workshops of this sculptor/builder (in the heyday these sculpture places were two, one in Nice and one in Marseilles), the thicknesses were important and the materials had to be first-rate, and since Levanto Red marble was one of the first in the class, well, two and two make four..
A few lines should also be devoted to the artistic cast-iron counter hearth that accompanies, completing it, our fireplace.
Its “tapisserie” background (that is, made with many figures one similar to the other and not with scenes of several subjects) is nothing but a repetition of the blazon of the Dukes of Burgundy, the most powerful family in France after the King.. This “strange” figure has to do with ermine breeding, the main activity (and of which they held the exclusive right in their homeland) of this noble house. Of the details of this fine design and its significance, perhaps I will elaborate with those who come to visit us at the exhibition, otherwise I risk looking like Wikipedia
THIS FIREPLACE MANTEL WAS BORN ON THE CÔTE D'AZUR. PARISIAN FIND, MID-1800S PERIOD, PERFECT PRESERVATION.
P.S: SMALL AS VENAL NOTE ON THE PRICE OF THIS FIREPLACE:
DO YOU THINK THAT THIS FIREPLACE IS EXPENSIVE?! KNOW THAT THE CAST IRON INSERT ITSELF COSTS NO LESS THAN € 2500 (AND I AM NOT EXAGGERATING, CHECK TO BELIEVE
