Since the commentary you will read below is more concerned with the (refined and very particular) stylism of this model, I have decided to anticipate in this foreword some specific decorative elements that characterize it and that are not discussed in the commentary:
This fireplace is called “Trois Fleurs” because it bears on the front three large sculptures, precisely, representing three flowers. The two side sculptures depict the now-famous “Paris Rose” (a French borrowing of the oldest known decoration in the world, the Mesopotamian Rosette) while the central sculpture depicts what is called the “Oval Fleur,” made of two opposing acanthus leaves and representing Femininity in its pure state. Of the significance of this floral element, perhaps I will speak more fully with those who visit de visu. But no less than six other flowers are carved in the fireplace. They are on the legs, in triple rows on each leg, and emerge from stems that the more refined antiquarians (the ones with the cashmere jacket and the lisping erre) call “Pompeian flutes.”
Also lovely are the mouths placed at the sides, bronze castings that decorate the sides of this young girl. The adjective “cute,” however, does not do right by this pair of decorations really very well made by the Parisian bronze worker (only there could this beauty of brass be achieved).
ITALIAN SCULPTURE, PARISIAN PROVENANCE, IMPECCABLE PRESERVATION AND PERFECT PATINA, NAPOLEON III PERIOD , WHITE CARRARA MARBLE OF "PURE" QUALITY AND GOOD SLAB HOMOGENEITY.
ALMOST ALWAYS, WHEN WE SPEAK OF “NAPOLEON III” FIREPLACES WE REFER TO SPECIMENS IN ALMOST PERFECT LUIGI XVI STYLE (I.E., IN A STYLE IN FORCE ABOUT A CENTURY EARLIER..), BUT, PRECISELY, BUILT IN THE NAPOLEON III ERA (AN ERA THAT WE GENERALLY MAKE GO FROM 1850 UNTIL THE EARLY TWENTIES OF ART NOUVEAU, 1880-90..).
IN THE SPECIFIC CASE OF THIS FIREPLACE AN IMPROPER STATEMENT IS MADE.
THE ONLY(AND I REPEAT THE ADJECTIVE “ONLY”) MODEL THAT CAN BEAR THE TITLE “PERIOD AND NAPOLEON III STYLE” IS PRECISELY THE DEMI-LUNE FIREPLACE .
IN FACT THIS MODEL DID NOT EXIST BEFORE 1850 AND THEREFORE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO CLAIM THAT IT IS A COPY OF A LUIGI XVI MANTEL (STYLISM CONCERNING THE LAST QUARTER OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY).
AT MOST IT CAN BE SAID THAT THE DEMI-LUNE MODEL WAS BORN, AS EVA FROM ADAMO'S, FROM THE RIB OF THE LUIGI XVI STYLE OF WHICH IT IS, IN MY OPINION, A DECIDEDLY IMPROVED VARIANT.
WELL, GIVEN TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR'S, LET'S SEE WHAT OTHER FEATURES THIS BLESSED AND CHARMING DEMI-LUNE HAS TO MAKE ITSELF SO WELL-LIKED, BESIDES BY ME, BY ALL THE WOMEN AND ARCHITECTS OF THE GLOBE:
(A) THE ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT THAT MOST DISTINGUISHES IT CONSISTS OF ITS ROUNDED HALF-COLUMN LEGS.... THEY ARE NOT ONLY A FANCY DECORATIVE ELEMENT, BUT ALSO HAVE THE AESTHETIC FUNCTION OF MAKING SURE THAT THIS FIREPLACE CAN BEGIN TO BE SEEN (AND ENJOYED..) EVEN WHEN VIEWED FROM THE SIDE..
(B) DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A SMALL THING TO YOU? I FIND IT TO BE AN IMPORTANT THING BECAUSE THE FIREPLACE IS NOT ONLY SEEN FROM THE FRONT, BUT HAS AS MANY AS THREE FACES, AND ALL OF THEM NEED TO BE RIGHTLY TAKEN CARE OF....
(C) IT'S A “BISEXUAL” FIREPLACE MANTEL... AND HERE I MUST EXPLAIN TO THOSE WHO LIKE TO BROWSE MY SITE, HOW FIREPLACES ARE DIVIDED INTO MALE AND FEMALE.
FEMALES ARE THE FIREPLACES WITH “WAVY, ‘SOFT’” LINES, BAROQUE OR ROCOCO' (VISIBLE IN OUR SITE AT THE SECTIONS LUIGI XV, LUIGI XIV, LIBERTY) WHILE MALES ARE THE NEOCLASSICAL SPECIMENS, OF LINEAR ARCHITECTURE IN GENERAL, WITH “ANGULAR” ANGLES (VISIBLE IN THE SECTIONS LUIGI XVI, LUIGI FILIPPO, EMPIRE, DECO' ).
NOW, THIS DEMI-LUNE, WHERE SHALL WE PUT IT?
AMONG THE FEMALES!?
IMPOSSIBLE, IT'S ALL PERFECT GEOMETRY, OF 90-DEGREE ANGLES OR HALF-MOONS EVERYWHERE, FROM THE (BEAUTIFUL..) PLATFORM TO ITS PERFECTLY SQUARE MOUTH..
NO, YOU CERTAINLY CAN'T SAY IT'S 100 % FEMALE...
THEN DO WE PUT HIM AMONG THE BOYS?
BUT NO... DON'T YOU SEE HOW GRACEFUL, ALMOST SENSUAL, HER LEG IS?
AND THE FLOORBOARD, WITH THOSE QUARTER-CIRCLE ROUNDELS....
AND THEN ITS NAME... “DEMI-MOON”... HALF-MOON, WHAT IS IT EVER ABOUT MALE!
IN SHORT, THIS ORIGINAL MODEL CARRIES IN ITS DNA BOTH MASCULINE AND FEMININE ELEMENTS TOGETHER, IN AN EXTRAORDINARILY SUCCESSFUL MELANGE THAT CAN ONLY BE CLASSIFIED IN THE NARROW CATEGORY OF “BISEXUALS".
BY THE WAY, THIS HAPPY AMBIGUITY OF HIS HAS AN IMPORTANT IMPLICATION: THIS FIREPLACE APPEALS AS MUCH TO MALE CUSTOMERS AS IT DOES TO FEMALE CUSTOMERS....
OH, GOSH, IT'S NOT THAT IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT HUSBANDS LIKE A FIREPLACE-THEIR WIVES CERTAINLY DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR OPINION WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING DECISIONS, THOUGH... THOUGH, AT LEAST IN THE CASE OF THE DEMI-LUNE, YOUR WIFE WILL PRETEND TO PLEASE YOU TOO AND ALLOW YOU TO HAVE YOUR SAY, SO “YOURS” THIS TIME IS ALSO “HERS” !!!
LAST NOTE: THIS MANTEL, ALTHOUGH BORN IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (AND THEREFORE BUILT IN THE MOST NUMERICALLY FRUITFUL PERIOD AS FAR AS ANCIENT CHIMNEYS ARE CONCERNED) IS DEFINITELY RARE TO FIND.
THE FACT THAT WE, AMONG THE APPROXIMATELY 1,000 MANTELS IN OUR WAREHOUSE POSSESS TWO OR THREE EXAMPLES (WHICH WOULD STILL BE VERY FEW IN PERCENTAGE) IS DUE SOLELY TO OUR PARTICULAR FONDNESS FOR THIS SPECIFIC MODEL AND OUR CONSEQUENT CONSTANT RESEARCH.
WHOEVER BUYS A DEMI-LUNE FIREPLACE, THEREFORE, HAS VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF BEING TOLD ..." I HAVE ONE LIKE THAT IN MY HOUSE TOO...”. IN SHORT, BUY IT IF YOU LIKE IT, BUT ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ITS RARITY.
