WARNING: YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY ELEGANT FIREPLACE BOTH IN THE "VARIOUS STYLES" CATEGORY AND IN THE "LOUIS XV" SECTION, AND MOREOVER IN THE "LOUIS XIV" SECTION AS WELL.
THE FACT IS THAT ITS STYLISM IS NOTHING BUT A HAPPY MIXTURE OF THE LUIGI XIV STYLE AND THE LUIGI XV STYLE, A MIXTURE THAT OCCURRED AT THE TIME OF THE TRANSITION (HENCE ITS NAME “TRANSITION”) FROM ONE STYLE TO THE OTHER.
JUST TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF SOME "TRANSITION" STYLISTIC ELEMENTS, I WILL TELL YOU HOW THIS FIREPLACE HAS LUIGI XV ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT WHILE ITS ARCHED FRONT FOLLOWS CLASSIC LUIGI XIV LINES.
EXCELLENT QUALITY AND HOMOGENEITY OF ITS VERY PRECIOUS BLACK MARBLE FROM BELGIUM, CONSTRUCTION PERIOD SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, BEAUTIFUL GENERAL PRESERVATION (ONLY ONE SMALL RESTORATION, INVISIBLE TO MOST, CARRIED OUT ON THE FLOORBOARD), PRICE MAYBE NOT LAUGHABLE BUT CERTAINLY CONTAINED IF YOU CONSIDER THE VERY REFINED ELEGANCE OF THIS FIREPLACE, ITS VERY SOUGHT-AFTER COLOR AND THE SCARCITY OF EXAMPLES OF THIS MODEL ON THE MARKET.
LOCATION OF ITS DISCOVERY!?
THOUGHT NEEDLESS TO SAY, ONLY IN PARIS, IN FACT, CAN A MANTEL OF SUCH REFINEMENT BE FOUND.
Perhaps this is “insider” talk, but... if you have a little frequented my site, or if in your search for the right fireplace for your home you have taken an interest in this fascinating world, you will certainly have noticed how many fireplaces resemble each other, how, in essence, the ancient architects (for it was the architects, especially those of the famous “Ateliers des Arts,” who decided the stylistic lines to be followed...) of how, I was saying, the ancient architects held with Teutonic rigor to the established dictates...
Never a slip, never a deviation of course...
Instead, in the case of the stylism of this fireplace (between Louis XIV and Louis XV), the only stylistic melange to have been so successful in the 1800s, a breach has opened in this, normally impregnable, bastion.
A very elegant breach, I would say, if we consider that this model of fireplace does not even need, in order to show itself beautiful, too many decorative accessories, he (woe to call it “it,” you would offend him..) sells his style, his “natural,” casual and harmonious Refinement of lines..
If I had to compare this mantel to a woman, I would immediately think of Carla Bruni, in her Elysée first lady look, simple clothes with refined lines, little makeup on her face, sensual movements even in descending an airplane ladder.
NORMALLY, THE FIRE SURROUNDS CARVED IN BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE ARE THE ONLY ONES WE RESTORE BEFORE THE SALE, ONLY IN THIS WAY, IN FACT, WILL IT BE POSSIBLE FOR THE CUSTOMER TO ENJOY THE PARTICULAR, INDEED UNIQUE AND MYSTERIOUS, LUSTER OF ITS SURFACES.
THIS TIME, HOWEVER, I COULD NOT RESIST SHOWING YOU THIS SPECIMEN EVEN IF ONLY PARTIALLY RESTORED (IN FACT, IT LACKS THE FINAL WAXING, AN IMPORTANT INTERVENTION THAT WILL MAKE ITS SURFACES IDENTICAL TO THOSE OF A BLACK LACQUERED PIANO) , AND THIS IS BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS IS A FIREPLACE IN THE BLACK HELL THEY ARE LOOKING FOR LIKE OBSESSIVES, AND ALSO BECAUSE THIS FIND, IN THE MAGNUM SEA OF COMPETITION REGARDING BELGIAN BLACK FIREPLACES, IS A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT OF WHICH I WILL ENJOY STRUTTING.
