I am a little embarrassed to begin my commentary on this mantelpiece in the style of Louis XVI, carved during the Napoleonic period. So now, before I start writing, I should resolve my embarrassment, or hide it and pretend nothing has happened... I thought about it for a while and then decided that, after all, it is better to be honest, come clean and carry on with my head held high...
The problem is this: The design for this Louis XVI model originated in Paris, from the pen of an excellent (so to speak, you'll understand later...) architect from the “Ateliers des Arts.” And so far, so good, the design is valid and pleasing. This fireplace mantel is carved in Italy (in Lunigiana, then Pietrasanta, Sarzana, Carrara and so on...), which is another good thing, since there is no better school of sculpture in the world... OK, another good point...
OK, FINE... AS MY FRIEND ANDREA MINGARDI WOULD SAY... SO WHAT ARE YOU SO CONFUSED ABOUT?!
Ehhh... I know where the confusion in my head comes from... Damn that Parisian architect... Do you want to know what our man did?!
1) Look at the back of the fireplace, those two protrusions that support the front and the base, don't they look like two... TONGUES?! In France, this model is called “LANGUETTE” (tongue) because of this particular support.
2) Can you see those five small “niches” carved into the front? In France, fireplaces with this type of niche on the front are called “Arcades.”
3) Can you see what is carved inside each niche? I'll tell you, they are little flowers representing the rising sparks (flammeches) from the hearth. In France, fireplaces with this type of flammeches on the front are called “Flammeches”;
PRACTICALLY, OUR ARCHITECT, UNORIGINAL COPYCAT, DID NOTHING BUT COPY AND COMBINE THREE CLASSIC FIREPLACE DECORATIONS ON THE SAME MODEL, WHICH NORMALLY SERVED TO GIVE THEIR NAME TO THE MANTEL ON WHICH THEY WERE CARVED!
AND NOW, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHICH OF THE THREE DECORATIONS IS THE RIGHT ONE?!
HOW CAN I NAME THIS MANTELPIECE CORRECTLY?
The only positive note is that whoever buys this UNIQUE and rare mantelpiece will get three decorations for the price of one.
Anyway, silly jokes aside, the fireplace I am presenting to you, although UNNAMED BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN NAMED TOO MANY TIMES, has several qualities to boast about, first and foremost its marble mantelpiece, A FANTASTIC AND VERY NOBLE STATUARIO CARRARA ARABESCATO MARBLE... VERY WHITE BACKGROUND AND EVENLY DISTRIBUTED VEINS. HARD TO FIND BETTER.
I have already mentioned its second quality above, which is the quality of its sculpture, ABSOLUTELY THE BEST IN THE WORLD.
