LOUIS XV POMPADOUR PIED GALBÉ FIREPLACE IN WHITE CARRARA MARBLE.
I KNOW THAT THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME TO YOU, THESE "POMPADOUR" FIREPLACES, A LITTLE BECAUSE THEY REALLY ARE SIMILAR (SIMILAR, YES, BUT NEVER IDENTICAL TO EACH OTHER), A LITTLEBECAUSENO MATTER HOW HARD WE TRY TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC "SERVICES," ONLY IN PERSON CAN WE ACHIEVE THE RIGHT READING AND A PROPER DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN ONE SPECIMEN AND ANOTHER..
BUT THIS FIREPLACE, BELIEVE ME, IS NOT A LITTLE “DIFFERENT” FROM ITS OTHER LITTLE BROTHERS IN THAT:
1) IT HAS SLENDER, GAZELLE-LIKE LEGS OF A SLENDER WOMAN;
2) IN KEEPING WITH HER SINUOUS LEGS, THE FRONT (WHOSE CURVES, ACCORDING TO POPULAR LEGEND, ARE THE SAME AS THE BREASTS OF THE MOST FAMOUS MISTRESS IN MODERN HISTORY) IS ALSO “LIGHT,” “THIN,” IN SHORT, A PERFECT, COMPACT BREAST, WITHOUT EXAGGERATED “FALLS” INTO THE VOID BELOW;
3) AND DEFINITELY PERFECT THIS MANTEL IS ALSO IN TERMS OF PRESERVATION, OUR SPECIMEN IS EDEN FOR THE CLIENTELE SEEKING PERFECTION EVEN IN THE ANCIENT FIREPLACE (WHICH BY THE MERE FACT OF ITS AGE, A FEW WRINKLES SHOULD HAVE IT, NO?):
4) THIS FIRE SURROUND HAS A POLISH AT THE TIME DONE RIGHT, NOT EXAGGERATED AND UNTIL TODAY EXCELLENTLY PRESERVED.
SMALL NOTE ON ANTIQUE POLISHING:
THE POLISHING OPERATION, AT THAT TIME OBVIOUSLY DONE BY HAND WITH A PUMICE STONE, COULD LAST EVEN A FEW DAYS, BE IN SHORT RATHER LONG AND TIRING, EVERY NOW AND THEN IT HAPPENED (AND WE NOTE IT TODAY, AFTER A CENTURY AND A HALF FROM THE DAY OF ITS BIRTH) THAT THE POLISHER STOPPED HIS TIRED HAND PERHAPS A DAY BEFORE THE RIGHT AFTER ALL, THE MARBLES WERE ALREADY POLISHED ENOUGH TO FOOL THE CUSTOMER, AND WHEN THIS POLISH, AFTER A FEW DECADES, WAS “DISASSEMBLED,” WELL, HE WOULD ALREADY HAVE REACHED THE BEYOND
IN OUR CASE, THE ANCIENT POLISHER WAS CORRECT AND SPENT FOR OUR MANTEL ALL THE NECESSARY LABORS.
5) DID YOU NOTICE (I AM ADDRESSING THE FEMALE GENDER BECAUSE I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT A MAN, SUCH A DETAIL, CANNOT NOTICE IT, TOO SCARCITY OF NEURONS) THAT, UNLIKE 99% OF ITS BRETHREN, THIS POMPADOUR GALBE' FIREPLACE HAS NO CURLS AT THE TOP OF THE LEGS!
ONE IN A THOUSAND OF THESE FIREPLACE MANTELS DOES NOT HAVE CURLS BECAUSE ONLY ONE IN A THOUSAND WAS CARVED AS THE FIRST-BORN OF THIS FAMILY, AND ONLY FROM THE YEAR 1850 OR SO HAS OUR MODEL BEEN ENRICHED WITH THIS DECORATION....
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A FLAW TO YOU!
I REALLY LIKE IT (ALSO) BECAUSE OF THIS MODESTY OF IT, ANOTHER ELEGANT “LIGHTNESS” IN ITS CARNIERE.
EPOCH OF CARVING II HALF OF 1800S, PARISIAN PROVENANCE AND STYLISM, ITALIAN SCULPTURE.
