I LIKE IT SO MUCH, THE DEMI-LUNE FIREPLACE, AND I HAVE NEVER HIDDEN THESE SYMPATHIES OF MINE, INDEED I HAVE OFTEN STATED THEM PUBLICLY BY WRITING ON THIS SITE MY COMMENTS FOR THIS NAPOLEON III MODEL, AT THE RISK OF MAKING THE OTHER FIREPLACES IN MY WAREHOUSE JEALOUS...
BUT FOR THIS SPECIFIC MANTEL IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO FIND THE RIGHT WORDS TO EXPLAIN HOW FINE IT IS, HOW ACCURATELY CARVED, HOW DELIGHTFUL TO THE EYE, I REALLY THINK IT WILL SERVE THIS TIME TO REALLY ENJOY IT DE VISU, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT THE IMAGES OFFERED HERE DEPICT IT IN THE STATE OF ITS FIND AND WITH SURFACES NOT EVEN NETTED..
FEW ANTIQUE FIREPLACES CAN BE CALLED “OF EXCELLENT PRESERVATION,” IT IS A NATURAL FACT, SO MUCH SO THAT, TO THOSE WHO ASK ME “HOW COME, MAURIZIO, THIS EDGE IS BROKEN..?!” I ANSWER... “MA'AM, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU, TODAY SO PRETTY, IF AT 150 YEARS OLD IT WILL BE COMPLETELY INTACT AND FRESH !!!”.... OR, ANOTHER QUESTION THAT OFTEN RINGS IN MY EARS “BUT . MAURIZIO, THIS LEG WAS GLUED, IT WAS BROKEN!!!?”. I ANSWER. “NO, WE BROKE IT TO MAKE THIS FIREPLACE MORE ANCIENT AND LIVED IN.... YOU KNOW, IT WAS TOO PERFECT!!!”... WELL, THIS TIME ITS “FLAWS” ARE REALLY MINUTE, SO MUCH SO THAT A THOROUGH CLEANING, FOLLOWED BY AN EQUALLY LOVING WAXING (BASED ON NATURAL BEESWAX..) WILL MAKE THIS FIREPLACE REALLY PERFECT!
TO DEFINE IT WITH ONE WORD, THIS FIREPLACE IS A........ “BIJOU”, PERIOD.
MEDIUM-SMALL AS IT IS GRACEFUL IN SIZE, THIS MANTEL WAS LOVINGLY DETACHED BY US FROM THE WALL OF A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE IN PARIS, MONTMARTRE AREA. ITS SCULPTURAL WORK, ALL-ITALIAN, OR RATHER PIETRASANTINA, DATES BETWEEN 1860 AND 1880, ITS PRESERVATION IS REALLY TO BE CONSIDERED EXCEPTIONAL, ITS PRICE LESS THAN FAIR, BECAUSE SUCH AN ART OBJECT SHOULD BE WORTH A LOT, MUCH MORE THAN I AM ASKING, ESPECIALLY WHEN COMPARED TO THE SIDEREAL COSTS OF THE MODERN, INDUSTRIAL APES THAT GO BY THE NAME OF “STYLED FIREPLACES” AND THAT ARE MOSTLY COMMISSIONED TODAY, BY MODERN FIREPLACE BUILDERS, IN CHINA, INDIA, TURKEY OR PAKISTAN!!
IN YOUR OPINION, IN THOSE AFOREMENTIONED PLACES, DO THE “SCULPTORS” HAVE THE SAME FINESSE AS THE HEIRS OF MICHELANGELO AND DONATELLO?!
