THIS FIREPLACE MANTEL IS THE LAST IN A SMALL SERIES OF THREE " SIBLING " FIREPLACES FOUND IN THE FORMER "HOTEL LE PARTICULIER”, BUILDING ON RUE DE BOETIE, IN THE CENTER OF PARIS.
ALL VERY SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER, NONE IDENTICAL TO ITS LITTLE BROTHER, A SIGN (AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE WHEN DEALING WITH ANTIQUE FIREPLACES...) OF EXQUISITELY ARTISTIC WORKMANSHIP AS MUCH AS HAPPILY MANUAL...
LOUIS XVI "TROIS FLEURS PIED DROIT” FIREPLACE IN WHITE CARRARA MARBLE, A MODEL BUILT IN VERY FEW EXAMPLES AND ALMOST ALWAYS WITH THE PURPOSE OF ADORNING A BEDROOM...
THE MAMNTEL I AM PROPOSING TO YOU IS WONDERFULLY ENRICHED (YOUR WIFE WILL SDILINQUIRE TO SEE THESE SCULPTURAL DECORATIONS...) BY A “CORAL CARVING” (OTHERWISE CALLED “A PERLAGE”..) ON THE FRONT, WHILE ON EACH LEG MAKE THEIR ELEGANT FIGURE TWO TRIPLE ROWS OF LITTLE FLOWERS (THEY ARE CALLED “FLAMMECHES”), FLOWERS THAT SYMBOLICALLY REPRESENT THE RISING OF THE SPARK..
OF COURSE, TO THE DECORATIVE LOAD DESCRIBED ABOVE MUST BE ADDED THOSE THREE FLOWERS (FROM WHICH IT RECEIVES ITS APPELLATION “TROIS FLEURS”) CARVED ON THE FRONT.
A CURIOSITY : LOOK AT THE CENTRAL FLOWER, DOESN'T IT SEEM TO BE SPINNING ON ITSELF?
A LITTLE LIKE THE PINWHEELS OF OUR CHILDHOOD!
WELL, THAT ORIGINAL FLOWER THAT TWISTS GRACEFULLY ON ITSELF IS CALLED “ETOILLE” (STAR) AND REPRESENTS, PRECISELY, THE STAR PAR EXCELLENCE, THAT IS, THE COMET.
THE FIREPLACE PRESENTED HERE IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION (AMONG OTHER THINGS, IT ENJOYS A CONSTRUCTION MADE WITH LARGE UNUSUAL MARBLE THICKNESSES), ITS PROVENANCE, WE SAID ABOVE, IS PARISIAN, THE ERA IN WHICH A MASTER SCULPTOR FROM PIETRASANTA SWEATED ON THOSE SLABS HIS SKILL IS THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (NAPOLEON III PERIOD OR, IF YOU PREFER, “SECOND EMPIRE”)
