THIS MANTEL IS “THE MALE” OF A PAIR OF FIREPLACES WE DISMANTLED IN THE SAME PARISIAN DWELLING IN WHICH THEY WERE, LIKE PEYNET LOVERS, LOOKING AT EACH OTHER . THE OTHER, “THE FEMALE” IS, IF NOT SOLD IN THE MEANTIME, THE FIREPLACE CODE 015, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THIS ONE. COMPARING OUR LITTLE BROTHERS, YOU CAN SEE HOW, WHILE IDENTICAL IN PATTERN, QUALITY OF CARVING AND MARBLE, THE MALE IS SMALLER THAN THE FEMALE, AND THIS IS BECAUSE, AT LEAST AS A RULE, THE MALE MUST BE ABLE TO “FIT” INTO THE FEMALE.
ESSENTIAL PREMISE:
IN THE LAST PICTURE (TAKEN BY ME AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE) YOU CAN SEE THIS FIREPLACE A MOMENT BEFORE OUR DISASSEMBLY.
WELL, IN THAT PHOTOGRAPH, “OURS” APPEARS TO US ALMOST RESIGNED, NOT VERY BEAUTIFUL, IN SHORT...
ON THE OTHER HAND, IN ALL THE PREVIOUS PICTURES (TAKEN BY MY SON), THE SAME MANTEL LOOKS MORE CHARMING, MORE APPEALING, IN A WORD, MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN IN MY SHOT...
BUT IF YOU COME TO SEE IT DE VISU, THE QUALITY OF ITS DELICATE AND VERY NOBLE MARBLE WILL BECOME EVIDENT, AND IT WILL BE HARD FOR YOU NOT TO FALL IN LOVE, WITH THE ENVELOPING CHARISMATIC MARBLE AND ALSO WITH THE FIREPLACE ITSELF!
LOUIS XVI ARRONDI FIRE SURROUND ("ARRONDI" stands for "rounded," an adjective which, in this case, refers to the curved and outwardly projecting line of its front and also of the two epaulets) IN BEAUTIFUL CARRARA QUARRYED STATUARY MARBLE, IN MY OPINION THE " WARMEST" APPARENT OF THE NOBLEST STATUARY FAMILY.
INTERESTING IS ITS PECULIAR HEIGHT, 111.5 CM, AGAINST AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 105 CM OF ITS BRETHREN OF THE SAME PERIOD AND STYLE. THIS LATTER PECULIARITY OF HIS MAKES OUR MANTEL SLIMMER THAN OTHERS OF EQUAL WIDTH.
A “classic” of the Napoleon III era, clean of architecture, always elegant in any context you position it, decorously provided with a few carvings such as the pair of roses on either side of the front..
I present it with its load of “construction site” dust (it's not that we are “soppy,” eh, it's just that I like you to see it exactly as we found it.. Who knows, maybe you too might feel the same excitement as I did at the time I discovered it..), I was saying, I present it loaded with dust, but underneath it is in very good preserved condition..
Provenance Paris, 1860-80s period, Italian sculpture.
