This particular Louis XVI “Cannelure” fireplace mantel — cannelure being the French term for the fluted carving applied across much of its surface, creating the refined neoclassical lines that define the model — was among the most widespread Louis XVI fireplace designs of the nineteenth century.
Its relatively accessible price made it suitable not only for grand reception rooms but even for bedrooms. After all, in Paris one was expected to have a fireplace in every room; appearing less refined than one’s neighbours was simply not an option.
Beyond the elegant fluting across the frieze and the legs — gently tapered in the Roman manner — this example also features, at its base, a series of finely carved vertical elements known among sculptors as Pompeian flutes. These details lend a sense of lightness and elegance to what is otherwise a fairly restrained and architectural Louis XVI mantelpiece.
Yet perhaps the element that most distinguishes this fireplace from its many siblings is its marble: a luminous white Carrara “Gioia”. Perhaps not quite as prestigious as its elder brother, Statuario Carrara, but certainly a marble of excellent quality and remarkable charm, particularly thanks to its soft grey-black veining.
I should also tell you a small story — one I experienced personally — concerning this particular fireplace model, which enjoyed extraordinary success during the nineteenth century and was produced in remarkable numbers.
Some forty years ago, a major manufacturer of industrial modern fireplaces came to visit me. One of those companies whose name inevitably contained the fashionable letter “K”.
He introduced himself by explaining that he wished to begin selling antique fireplaces through his many showrooms across Italy, creating what he called “an antique fireplace corner”.
Naturally, he flattered me enormously and, as my wife often reminds me, I have always been rather too trusting. So trusting, in fact, that I offered him exceptionally generous prices on a group of antique fireplace mantels — a decision that quickly proved to be both the first and the last of its kind.
It soon became clear that his admiration, much like the Sirens’ song to Ulysses, was merely a strategy: an excuse to purchase original pieces cheaply and then calmly reproduce them as so-called “antique style fireplaces”.
And thus it happened that the very first “period-style” fireplace mass-produced in Italy was precisely this Louis XVI “Cannelure”. It was renamed the “Roma” model, thanks to its fluted decoration reminiscent of Roman columns.
Needless to say, the reproduction did not faithfully follow the proportions of the original antique mantel. Instead, its architecture was altered to accommodate modern prefabricated fireboxes, distorting its proportions entirely. A heavy base was added — something halfway between a tombstone and a sarcophagus — robbing the design of its original elegance and austere beauty.
Personally, I still find it astonishing that so many people purchase machine-made reproductions of antique fireplaces — produced by computer-controlled milling machines — at prices equal to, or sometimes higher than, authentic originals that were carved, polished, waxed and finished entirely by hand.
But the world moves in curious directions. I can only hope — for the sake of my son — that this rather bewildering cultural tendency does not grow worse.
This large Louis XVI “Cannelure” fireplace dates from the Napoleon III period (circa 1850–1870). It remains in excellent condition and was recovered by us in the city of Nice, the very port through which marble from the Tuscan coast around Massa once arrived.
Its sculptural work was almost certainly executed by Basque craftsmen who had emigrated to the Côte d’Azur and worked there seasonally, bringing with them their remarkable carving skills.
