BUT… WILL IT BE CHARMING…?!?
Yes, it is true that, all else being equal in sculptural quality, fireplaces — the smaller they are — the more charming they become. However, this time we must acknowledge the great decorative qualities of our MOST CHARMING LITTLE FIREPLACE, qualities that are very difficult to find in wooden fireplaces.
In fact, these were in the vast majority of cases created to furnish bedrooms, entrance halls, lobbies, etc. in hotels, shops, offices and so on… And obviously, since their function was purely decorative and they were meant to cost little, they were generally “loaded” with fewer decorative and costly elements.
BUT OUR CARQUOI (the French word carquois means “bow”; at the end of this comment I will reveal why this fireplace is called “Bow” even though no bow appears among its sculptures)… I’ve lost my train of thought… what were we saying?! Ah yes, our Carquois was created by a sculptor of incredible mastery who, with the magic of his hands, carved on the front panel a curving and elegant “bed” of corn leaves (or maize leaves, if you prefer). Upon this leafy bed appear the figures of a burning torch and a quiver full of arrows.
The finesse of the sculpture is UNMATCHED, and therefore very costly… Yet our fireplace was rub… ehmmm… dismantled (and of course properly paid for) in one of the most important Parisian hotels — a late nineteenth-century hotel which decided to part with this ancient fireplace and ten of its companions in order to build a SPA.
Let us now examine the meaning of its sculptures, beginning with the burning torch, which above all represents the light of reason that drives away the darkness of ignorance.
THE SECRET OF THE NAME “BOW” FOR OUR FIREPLACE lies entirely in the fact that the designer of this work chose to play a little game (symbolism was very common in antiquity) by “hiding” the image of the bow within the elegant, slender and elongated leaves of the corn plant.
It is not easy to explain this here with photographs alone, but the proof that these leaves were a playful device to represent the bow itself can be found in two small points at the ends of one of those many leaves — precisely where the bowstring would have been attached.
OUR “HERO” WAS BORN IN THE BELLE ÉPOQUE PERIOD (LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY), IS IN PERFECT CONDITION OF PRESERVATION, AND MUST BE CONSIDERED A “UNIQUE PIECE,” THAT IS, NOT PRODUCED IN SERIES BUT MADE FOR A SINGLE COMMISSION. ITS DISCOVERY TOOK PLACE IN PARIS, PLACE DE LA CONCORDE.
