FIREPLACE NAMED “VINE BRANCH,” IN SENSUOUS REGENCY STYLE, LATE 18TH CENTURY PERIOD AND CARVED IN OAK ESSENCE, EXCELLENT OVERALL PRESERVATION, PROVENANCE BURGUNDY.
GENERALLY DON'T LIKE RE-SUNG (OR “RE-INTERPRETED”..) SONGS. IF A SONG IS BY THE BEATLES, I LIKE TO HEAR IT IN JHON LENNON'S VOICE OR PAUL MC CARTNEY'S VOICE ... THESE DAYS, ON THE OTHER HAND, I AM LISTENING (MANIACALLY..) TO A CD BY FRANCO BATTIATO, A CD IN WHICH THIS VERY GOOD AUTHOR AND EXCEPTIONAL SINGER REINTERPRETS SONGS (AND MUSIC..) BY OTHERS.. WELL, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT FRANCO IS NOT “RE-SINGING,” BUT... “RE-MAKING” WHAT WAS BY OTHERS, THUS LANDING, WITH THAT INFINITE TENDERNESS AND SENSUALITY OF VOICE, TO OTHER AND PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BEACHES...
SO IT IS ALSO THE CASE WITH THE SCULPTOR OF THIS FIREPLACE (“UNIQUE PIECE,” OF COURSE..), WHO, WHILE WORKING ON AN ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT AS WELL KNOWN AS SUCCESSFUL AS THAT OF THE REGENCY STYLE, REINTERPRETS AND REINVENTS IT, WITH EXCEPTIONAL RESULT.
SOMETHING THIS, WHICH HAPPENS TO VERY FEW, TO THE VERY FEW AND TRUE ARTISTS, SUCH AS BATTIATO AND THE UNKNOWN CABINETMAKER WHOSE NAME, UNFORTUNATELY, WE DO NOT KNOW..
HISTORICAL NOTE:
This fireplace certainly belonged to a winemaker (“vigneron”) from the area where we recovered it (Burgundy).
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in fact, the happy as well as proud craze of showing others one's belonging to a profession (as in this case), but also to a religious confession (just think of the Huguenot cross carved on so many fireplace fronts and/or stone or marble plaques affixed to houses..) or “political” (among all the latter, the Masonic “confession” was the dominant one) was widespread.
