I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE:
For the past fifteen/twenty years, whenever I have to propose/comment/present a Belgian Black marble fireplace, I find myself embarrassed....
Previously (i.e., in my first thirty years in this fantastic world) I didn't..
Now let me explain...
Many (too many) years ago, the more ugly (lived-in), broken (time-worn), dirty (patina) fireplaces were, the more they were “sellable,” that is, liked by the customers of the time.
And this was also true for Belgian Black marble fireplaces, a marble in some respects very delicate and not easy to be brought to the right luster.
If forty years ago a fireplace in Black Belgium had dull surfaces and some chipping at the corners it would have been accepted, indeed, woe if we had “licked and ruffled” it before presenting it for sale
TODAY, AND FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW, THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE:
Today the same fireplace MUST BE PERFECT, ALGID AND GLOSSY like the surface of a black lacquered piano, as flawless as a butler to Queen Elizabeth, as distinguished as a conductor.
DO YOU NOT PRESENT IT LIKE THIS?
YOU DON'T SELL IT.
THAT'S WHY I, WHO HAVE ALWAYS PRIDED MYSELF ON PRESENTING MY FIREPLACES IN THE STATE IN WHICH THEY WERE FOUND, FOR SOME YEARS NOW HAVE HAD TO WITHDRAW FROM WHAT I CONSIDERED A LOYAL BEHAVIOR TOWARDS MY CLIENTS AND LOWER MYSELF TO DOING AS MY COMPETITORS DO: TO PUBLISH, COMPLETELY RESTORED, MY FIREPLACES IN BLACK BELGIUM MARBLE.
OF THIS I AM EMBARRASSED, AND A LITTLE EVEN ASHAMED, AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT.
Among the Louis XV models carved in the nineteenth century, our Pompadour Galbé has the most fascinating history.... More than a story, it is a popular legend that sees, in the wavy features of this mantel, the sensual lines of the most famous mistress in history after Cleopatra, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Maitresse du Roi, later made by Louis XV himself Marchioness of Pompadour for her special and unmentionable bed merits..
According to the people, the double descending curves of the front of this fireplace mantel represent the cups of the breasts of the beautiful Antoinette while the legs of the mantelpiece, again vox populi, are the same (strong thighs, eh..) of our marquise.
Nice story, eh, story that you can take home with you along with the fireplace I present here, and then tell it, in turn to your acquaintances, making them envy you for such noble and most feminine possession.
PARISIAN PROVENANCE AND BELGIAN SCULPTURE, NAPOLEON III PERIOD, RESTORATION OCCURRED WITHOUT REPLACEMENT OF MARBLE PARTS, RE-POLISHING ENTIRELY BY HAND, EXACTLY AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE IN A SCULPTURE WORKSHOP OF A CENTURY AND A HALF AGO.
