ON HOLD
I MUST MAKE AN IMPORTANT PREAMBLE, A PREAMBLE WHICH YOU WILL HAPPEN TO READ OTHER TIMES IN THE LOUIS XVI AND EMPIRE SECTIONS, A PREAMBLE WHICH, HOWEVER, IS NECESSARY TO A BETTER POSSIBLE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FIREPLACE PRESENTED HERE:
THIS FIREPLACE IS PUBLISHED BOTH IN THE LOUIS XVI SECTION AND IN THE EMPIRE SECTION, THIS IS BECAUSE WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT THE EMPIRE STYLISM (HERE I AM REFERRING TO THE "FIRST EMPIRE," THAT OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE) STEMS FROM THE NEOCLASSICAL STYLISTIC MATRIX AND MORE PRECISELY LOUIS XVI, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT IN THE NAPOLEON III PERIOD (WHO WAS EMPEROR FROM 1852-1870) THE BASIC STYLISM OF THE FIRST EMPIRE WILL LOSE CERTAIN TOO AUSTERE AND/OR SPARTAN ASPECTS AND WILL BE DECISIVELY "REFINED."
MOREOVER, EXCUSE ME, I WOULD NOT MAKE TOO MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AND NAPOLEON III, THE LATTER IN FACT
(A) WAS DESCENDED FROM THE FORMER (HE WAS HIS NEPHEW AS HIS BROTHER'S SON),
B) HAD HIS OWN DEFECT OF WANTING TO BE EMPEROR AT ALL COSTS,
C) HE WAS A PROPONENT OF FRENCH GRANDEUR (IT WAS HE WHO BUILT, AT THE COST OF DEMOLISHING THE CENTER OF PARIS, THE CHAMPS ELYSEES) AND HE TOO,
(D) AFTER A MILITARY DEFEAT ENDED UP IN EXILE.
TALIS ZIUS TALIS NEPOTEM!!! (MACHERONIC LATIN BUT VERY UNDERSTANDABLE).
ALL THIS PARROT TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT, AFTER ALL, EVEN THE SO-CALLED "SECOND EMPIRE" IS NOT AT ALL SECOND TO THE "FIRST EMPIRE "INDEED!!!
AND IN ANY CASE, BOTH CAN BEAR THE TITLE OF “EMPIRE.”
SECOND PREMISE TO THE COMMENTARY:
AT THE END OF THE MANY PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY MY SON ENRICO IN THE WAREHOUSE, YOU WILL FIND TWO IMAGES OF THIS CAMINET TAKEN BY ME IN THE PARIS BUILDING YARD FROM WHERE I RUB.... EHMM... DISMOUNTED. THEY ARE OBSCENE IMAGES, I KNOW, BUT IT WAS DUSK AND BESIDES I WITH THESE MODERN CAMERAS DO NOT FIT, TOO MANY AND INCOMPREHENSIBLE COMMANDS...
This strange photographic succession arises from the need, more and more urgent and necessary because of the proliferation of counterfeiters in our field, to respond factually to a question that more and more I am asked, this:
“MAURIZIO, BUT HOW CAN I BE SURE THAT THIS FIREPLACE YOU ARE SELLING ME IS NOT A FAKE!”
Keep in mind that I do not take offense in such cases; on the contrary, I am almost glad that my interlocutor sincerely wonders and asks me for some light on the matter.. Thus stimulated, moreover, I find strength for a very personal campaign of mine (which has been going on for a lifetime and which I still carry on even though after almost 40 years it has not yielded any results...) against counterfeiters, whom I consider to be most detrimental to our work.
HOW TO ANSWER MY (RIGHTLY) SUSPICIOUS CLIENT'S QUESTION!?
Well, I could count her many fibs, perhaps making use of specialized and high-sounding vocabulary or pretend to be offended to death (“What are you saying, my lady, I come from three generations of antiquarians, and never have I been so offended..”) and/or try the most varied strategies...
ON THE OTHER HAND, I BELIEVE THAT AN OPERATION LIKE THIS OF SHOWING PHOTOS PERHAPS OBSCENE, BUT TAKEN AT THE PLACE OF DISASSEMBLY OF THE FIREPLACE BEING SOLD, WELL, IT IS THE PROVEN PROOF OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THAT SAME FIREPLACE...
MORE CONCRETENESS THAN THAT....
YOU... WHAT ABOUT!!!
FINALLY, THE COMMENTARY, REDUCED TO A SMIDGEN BECAUSE SPACE IS NOW AT A PREMIUM, BUT IT IS SO PRETTY, THIS MANTEL, AND NICE, THAT JUST A FEW NOTES WILL BE ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY CUSTOMER DECIDE TO MAKE IT THEIR OWN:
THIS IS A FIREPLACE MANTEL CARVED IN A VERY FINE QUALITY STATUARY “VENATINO" (CONNOISSEUR MARBLE...), NAPOLEON III PERIOD, EXCELLENT PRESERVATION AND VERY NOBLE PATINA..
ITS NICE SMALL SIZE, THEN, MAKES THIS FIREPLACE, AS WELL AS GRAZIOSISSIMO, ALSO ADAPTABLE TO THE MOST LOGISTICAL RESTRICTED SITUATIONS...
TECHNICALLY, ITS BEING MADE WITH A DETACHED COLUMN IS AN ORNAMENTAL MERIT THAT YOU WILL RARELY SEE AND THAT ENHANCES (ALSO IN THE SENSE OF PRICE, I MEAN..) BY A LOT THE FIREPLACE ITSELF. ALSO INTERESTING IS THE DORIC CAPITAL, A DECORATIVE ELEMENT ALMOST FORGOTTEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
VERY GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY, SO MUCH SO THAT WE SEEM TO HAVE STOLEN IT.
BELIEVE ME, IT'S NOT, IT'S JUST THAT, AS HAS ALWAYS BEEN OUR PRACTICE, WE MADE A FANTASTIC PURCHASE AND TURN THIS SMALL FORTUNE OVER TO THE FIRST CUSTOMER WHO WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND PROFIT FROM THE SITUATION.
