Marble Fireplaces and Mantels

This magnificent chimneypiece is carved from fine statuary marble with contrasting inlaid thumbnails of dark Rosso Lavanto across the frieze. The signature motifs, expert craftsmans...

This impressive antique fireplace surround has been expertly carved and crafted from Carrara marble with attractive veins throughout. The elegant fireplace showcases exquisite detai...

Important and massive Louis XV fireplace model. Made in a unique old pink marble . With serpentine-shaped shelf and bowed frieze, decorated by spring flowers in the center of the fr...

Beautiful Noir de Mazy marble fireplace from the 19th century in the style of Louis XVI. This antique fireplace has a straight top and slightly curved legs. The fireplace has beautif...

19th Century Louis Marble Fireplace Mantlepiece 19th Century Statuary White Marble Fireplace ThIs Victorian Louis XV Style Marble Fireplace Is Hand Carv...

A Regency period Antique Statuary white marble chimneypiece. Superior quality Italian Statuary marble, no discolouration very well carved corner blocks of flowers and foliage flank a...

A Regency period Antique Statuary white marble chimneypiece. Superior quality Italian Statuary marble, no discolouration very well carved corner blocks of flowers and foliage flank a...

Warm red colored Pompadour style fireplace mantel from France, 19th century.

An exquisite 19th-century mantel from France, hand-carved from fine Carrara marble, celebrated for its luminous white surface and elegant grey veining. This antique piece showcases t...

A Regency period pair of Antique Statuary white marble chimneypieces. Superior quality Italian Statuary marble, no discolouration very well carved corner blocks of flowers and foliag...

Black marble fireplace surround mantle to place around the chimney. From the 19th century, from the Netherlands.

Elevate your living space with this Antique French Statuario Marble Mantel. Made from stunning Statuario marble, this 1850s reclaimed piece boasts striking black veining and intricat...

Very unique late 19th century French marble mantel. Wonderful deep rouge color marble with an unusual clock in the center. Straight lines with corbel des...

Imposing Louis XV Style White Carrara Marble Mantel circa 1880

An attractive 19th century Edwardian hand carved Mantle Place. Carved from statutory marble with rouge marble detailing across the jambs and lintel. The lintel features charming figurative porcelain...

This simple yet elegant Belgium marble fireplace surround/mantel was found in Paris in the 1980s but dates from the 19th century. Pe...

A graceful 19th-century mantel from France, carved from luminous Carrara marble, prized for its soft white ground and delicate grey veining. Antique and reclaimed, this piece carries...

Large Double-Slip Georgian Style Fireplace Surround in finest quality Italian Violette Brescia Marble. Measures: Depth: 8” – 20.3 cm External Height...

Made from veined Carrara marble and white statuary marble. The centre plaque with a well carved mask of Apollo surrounded by a sunburst. The console jambs are under fluted corbels...

Important early 19th Century antique fireplace in Statuary Carrara marble with quiver-shaped columns and gilt bronze ornaments. Its original provenance is Chateau de la Gesse - Boul...

This is a fine original antique fireplace surround from the first half of the 18th century. Louis XIV period. The Saracolin marble and the fine carved center is of exceptional qualit...

Very beautiful antique French marble mantelpiece made of the warm Sarrancolin marble! This mantelpiece is in Pompadour style and dates from the 19th cent...

An elegant, hand-carved white and pink marble fireplace, adorned with urns, garlands, and classic relief details. Its symmetrical design, featuring round columns and Ionic capitals, ...

Louis XVI style fireplace in Carrara marble, circa 1880 fireplace dimensions: 92 x 126 cm et 70 x 68cm

19th century Beligan Louis Phillippe period fireplace surround (mantel) in dark grey Saint Anne marble. Additional measurements: EW 49.25" EH 39.75" IW 38.2" IH 34.6".   

This 19th-century mantel from Italy is carved from Arabescato Corchia marble, a prized Italian stone celebrated for its dramatic veining. The marble features a creamy white base acce...

An exquisite example of French Rococo artistry, this antique fireplace mantel dates to the mid-18th century, circa 1740–1760, during the reign of Louis XV. Crafted from rare Rouge Ro...

This authentic 19th-century Parisian Pompadour fireplace surround, crafted in the prestigious Bleu Fleuri marble—also known as Bardiglio Forito, a refined and noble variant of Bleu T...

An antique Early Victorian period Gothic revival, black marble and portoro marble fireplace The half octagonal Nero Portoro marble columns are sat on pure black marble pilasters and ...

A Highly Important Empire Period Rosso Antico Chimneypiece Inset with Specimen Marble Portrait Reliefs of Roman Emperors The carved and veneered surround comprising a moulded shelf supported by a bold dentil cornice, above an inverted breakfront frieze carved with a central triglyph panel, flanked by a pair of rosettes carved in shallow relief, the frieze mounted with six carved hardstone profile portrait medallions of Roman Emperors, the stop-fluted jambs raised on moulded footblocks; in excellent condition with small restorations commensurate with age and use; the pale inclusions in the stone naturally formed. This spectacular neoclassical marble chimneypiece is carved from Rosso antico, the frieze inset with six portrait reliefs of Roman Emperors, each carved in marmo giallo on a bardiglio background, five variously incised: VESPASIANUS, TIBERIVS, OTHO, JULIUS CAESAR, TITUS. Rosso antico (marmor taenarium) is first recorded as being quarried in 1700 BC at Akra Tainaron (Cape Matapan), Greece.¹ The majority of this stone, however, was extracted throughout the Roman period, when it was one of the most coveted materials for carving due to its rich red colouring and association with highly prized Egyptian ‘Imperial’ Porphyry.² Rosso antico was chosen in antiquity for portrait busts, notably depicting Bacchic subjects such as Dionysus and satyrs due to its rich red wine colour which symbolised conviviality whilst conveying the education and cultivated taste of the owner.³ In the Renaissance, Rosso antico was also used for architectural detail on important buildings, such as the steps leading up to the choir in the medieval church of S. Prassede, and the large columns at the entrance to the Camera dell'Aurora.⁴ In 121 AD, G. Suetonius Tranquillus, secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote a biographical history of the first twelve emperors of Rome entitled De vita Caesarum (The Twelve Caesars). A Renaissance edition of Tranquillus’ work was published in 1470, followed by further reprints and translations into all the main European languages. Many of these were illustrated with prints of emperors taken from coins and statues, or imagined by the artist based on Tranquillus’ accounts. These interpretations were copied, in turn, by Renaissance designers for medals, Limoges enamels, and busts, as well as paintings such as the Eleven Caesars, a series of eleven half-length portraits of Roman emperors made by Titian in 1536–40 for Federico II, Duke of Mantua.⁵ These paintings were later given to King Charles I, before being passed in the Commonwealth to the Kings of Spain. Unfortunately, the series was destroyed in the catastrophic fire of 1734 at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, and is now only known through copies and engravings.⁶ From the middle of the 17th century until the end of the 18th century, there was an insatiable demand for marble carvings, often sold as Roman or assembled from ancient fragments, thus perpetuating the reverence for antiquity that was the quintessence of the Grand Tour. Rosso antico was in extremely short supply, even after the ancient quarries at Skutari were rediscovered in 1830, and remained one of the most highly valued of all stones. Described in 1776 as ‘dark red; scarce and dear’, it was mostly used for small objects such as Grand Tour desk ornaments, inevitably using material re-cut from classical fragments, due to its rarity, as was the case with porphyry.⁷ The portrait roundels on this chimneypiece are typical of those produced in Rome and Florence in hardstones, semi-precious stones, gold, silver, bronze, and mother-of-pearl, which, being easily transportable, would be taken home from the Grand Tour to be mounted within wooden, gilded or brass frames, as fashion dictated.⁸ A group of gold portraits of Caesars, dating from around 1660, are in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence. Images of Roman emperors were not limited to Italy, England and France, however, as examples executed in Deshima for the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) show. Medallions depicting Roman emperors, invariably made of black and gold Japanese hiramakie or takamakie lacquer on copper, were produced for the Dutch market at the end of the 18th century. Examples can be found in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.⁹ There are two possible sources for the Imperial profiles on the chimneypiece: the engravings of The Twelve Caesars by Marcantonio Raimondi, or the Imperatorum Imagines by Hubert Golz.¹⁰ The portrait medallions also bear remarkable resemblance to a set of eighteen carved portrait reliefs of Roman Emperors, also of marmo giallo, almost certainly bought by David Ker (1742–1811) of Portavo, Co. Down, on his Grand Tour between 1792–4 in either Florence or Rome. Ker’s diary entry for 17th October 1793 is interesting as it reveals that he was offering his brother a choice of chimneypiece designs, which further supports a Roman origin for the offered example.¹¹ Indeed, fire surrounds incorporating antique fragments had been promoted from the late 1760s by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78), encouraged by Rome-trained architects including Robert Adam (d.1792). One such example, inset with mythological tablets carved from Rosso antico, was acquired by the 9th Earl of Exeter from Piranesi himself for Burghley House.¹² Another can be found at Islington House, Dorset.¹³ A third, inset with giallo antico and Rosso antico, follows Piranesi’s engraved design dated 1769 for a fire surround mounted with three marble portrait reliefs.¹⁴ It should be re-emphasised that Rosso antico was so precious that it was only ever used for small tablets or details rather than an entire chimneypiece, as with the offered example; likewise, while portrait reliefs are occasionally seen on the jambs of Italian surrounds, it is exceptionally rare to see the frieze mounted with a group, especially of this scale: the combination indicates an architectural commission by an extremely wealthy patron. The sophisticated lines of this chimneypiece epitomise the French Empire influence on the Italian states at the turn of the 18th century. This idiosyncratic ‘Roman’ taste is encapsulated by that of Napoleon, who identified with Rome’s Imperial past. Napoleon’s desire to establish a visual link between himself and Roman emperors is demonstrated by the portraits of his court painter, Jacques-Louis David, inspired by portraits of Emperor Augustus. This Imperial taste extended to architecture, furniture and porcelain, the latter two of which are combined in a group of magnificent ormolu-mounted guéridons commissioned in Sèvres between 1803–11, made to immortalise Napoleon’s reign.¹⁵ The second guéridon in the series, the Table des Grands Capitaines (Table of the Great Commanders of Antiquity), commissioned in 1806, is made almost entirely of hard-paste Sèvres porcelain. The top, painted in imitation of sardonyx, is centred by a portrait cameo of Alexander the Great, surrounded by twelve smaller heads of commanders and philosophers from antiquity: Pericles, Scipio Africanus, Pompey, Augustus, Septimus Severus, Constantine, Trajan, Caesar, Mithridates, Hannibal, Themistocles and Miltiades.¹⁶ Louis XVIII presented the table to the Prince Regent (later King George IV) in 1817 as a token of appreciation for Napoleon’s defeat two years earlier, and George IV treasured it so highly that it became part of the ceremonial backdrop for all his state portraits. The table remains in the Royal Collection.¹⁷ This chimneypiece remained, until recently, in the possession of a noble Dutch family, who acquired it from the owners of a bombed Knightsbridge house in the 1940s; unfortunately, its provenance prior to this has been lost. The use of Rosso antico on this scale, inset with these splendid Imperial profile medallions, appears unparalleled. 1. J. B. Grossman, 'Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone' (Los Angeles, 2003). Grossman states that this material was ‘...quarried in three places during antiquity: on Cape Tainaron present day Matapan on the Peloponnese of Greece; on Crete; and at the site of Iasos in Asia Minor. 2. L. Lazzarini, ‘Rosso antico and other red marbles used in antiquity: a characterization study’, Marble, Art Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Ancient Sculpture’ (1990), 237–252. C. Gorgoni, L. Lazzarini, P. Pallante, ‘New archaeometric data on Rosso antico and other red marbles used in antiquity, ASMOSIA VI, Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone’ (2002), pp. 199–206. J. Deér, trans. G.A. Gilhoff, The Dynastic Porphyry Tombs of the Norman Period in Sicily (Cambridge, 1959), p. 144. R. Gnoli, Marmora Romana (Rome, 1988), pp. 187–191. 3. A notable example is a satyr from the Emperor Hadrian's villa at Tivoli, now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome. Another is the head of a satyr in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, accession no. 2006.110. See T. Opper, Hadrian. Empire and Conflict (London, 2008), p. 165, fig. 149. 4. De Luca, Marmi antichi (Rome, 1998), p. 126. Faustino Corsi, Catalogo ragionato d’una collezione di pietre di decorazione (Rome, 1833), p. 93. 5. For related Limoges medallions, see set of ten circular Limoges enamel medallions depicting Roman emperors, en grisaille with gilding, from the workshop of Jacques I Laudin, sold Christie’s London, Fine Renaissance Bronzes and Works of Art, 19 December, 1977, lot 95. 6. See set of drawings sold Sotheby’s London, Of Royal and Noble Descent, 24 February, 2015, lot 184. 7. J. J. Ferber, Raspe’s Travels through Italy in the Years 1771–1772 (London, 1776), p. 218. 8. See Sotheby’s London, Pelham, the Public and the Private, 8 March 2016, lot 75: ‘A set of twelve mother-of-pearl cameos of Roman Emperors, Southern Italian, early 19th century’ 9. Oliver Impey, Christiaan J.A. Jörg, Cynthia Viallé, Japanese Export Lacquer 1580–1850 (Amsterdam, 2005) pp. 48–57, no. 56 & 57. 10. For a further reference, see the candlesticks by Jacques I Laudin in the Waters Art Gallery, illustrated in P. Verdier, Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance (Baltimore, 1967), p. 389, nos. 207 & 208. 11. John Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish travellers in Italy 1701–1800 (London, 1997), pp. 572–3. 12. Oliver Impey, Four Centuries of Decorative Arts from Burghley House (Virginia, 1998), p. 53, fig. 23. 13. Country Life, 12 June, 1997, p. 162, figs. 9–11. 14. A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Roma e il Regno delle due Sicilie, Vol. II (Milan, 1984), pp. 592–93, p. 260. 15. S. Grandjean, 'Napoleonic Tables...

This antique French mantel, crafted from Balacet marble in the 1880s, showcases exquisite Empire-style design and exceptional craftsmanship. The centerpiece features a hand-carved ge...

This stunning Art Deco fireplace, crafted in the 1920s, features a captivating blend of pink, yellow, gray, and white marble hues. The piece is in excellent condition, showcasing the...

This extraordinary fireplace is made of Noir de Mazy marble, which is complemented by the luxurious green marble type Verde. Despite the clean lines, this is a very elegant piece. Th...

A 19th century Carrara and Verde Antico marble chimneypiece In the George III style The inverted breakfront shelf with dentil cornice above a ribbon tied and medallion hung bell husk garlanded frieze with central tablet carved with a draped pedestal...

Louis XV style fireplace in white Carrara marble, circa 1880 fireplace dimensions: 105 x 90cm

A late 18th century Louis XVI period fireplace, of large proportions. Executed in a dark grey Belgian marble, the frieze with carved urn and opposing Asps. The jambs with fluted fron...

Ercole large Rain Forest green marble fire pit by AK47 Design Rain Forest green marble fire pit Ø2500 mm. Ercole is a outdoor wood-burning fire pit. It is born by the union of two raw materials – the steel as a structural element and the marble which decorates and enhances its design. Not a simple hearth, but a decorative outdoor furnishing...

Kilkenny marble Regency chimneypiece with cushion fluted jambs and frieze set between corner blocks with roundels. Plinths to meet the hearth and a simple moulded shelf. Restored. In...

Beautiful marble Louis XVI fireplace 19th century to place around the chimney. It is made out of Gris D’Ardenne Marble.

A very beautiful antique fireplace made of statuario marble. This type of marble comes from Italy and has light veins. The fireplace dates from the 19th century and is in the style o...

A George III Statuary and Convent Sienna marble fireplace, c.1790. The breakfront shelf with generous bed-mould, the frieze centred by relief carved plaque depicting a maiden, this...

This refined early Victorian chimneypiece, crafted from fine Italian Carrara marble, showcases intricately carved corbels with foliage motifs, a large bevelled shelf rests atop. A m...

A large and grand antique Statuary marble fireplace dating to the 1850’s. Each pilaster with two full rounded and free standing Corinthian columns th...

An antique black fossil and Portoro marble fireplace made during the William IV period (1830’s). The shelf, jambs, frieze and foot-blocks are made from black marble with subtle fossi...

21st Century Black Marble Mantlepiece. This English Made Unique Fireplace Mantelpiece Is Made From Deep Italian Nero Marquino Marble With a Polished Finish. The Design Is Based On A ...

Antique Dutch fireplace mantel to place around the chimney from the 19th Century.

18th century Italian Carrara marble fireplace, richly decorated in the Baroque style. On the central cartouche of the mantlepiece a coat of arms. The legs decorated with scrolls, mas...

This Louis XVI style mantel was carved from Rouge Royal marble with striking gray and white veining. A simple recessed panel spans the apron, while classically carved floral motifs s...

This exquisite Louis XV-style mantel, dating back to 1850s France, is crafted from a rare, imported marble with warm coffee tones and striking burnt orange veining. Intricate hand-ca...

20th Century Georgian-Style Hand-Carved Marble Fireplace Mantelpiece A truly exceptional unique fireplace, meticulously hand-carved under lice...

19th Century Louis Petite Carrara Marble Fireplace Mantlepiece. An Authentic English Made Antique Dated Circa 1860. Louis XV Petite (Loire) French Design Fireplace Surround Made Fro...

Antique fireplace mantel from the 19th Century to place around the chimney.

Antique Fireplace Mantle in White Carrara Marble Carved with Central Shell. The precious white Carrara marble is known throughout the world for its uniform pure white color with gray...

A Louis XVI style Carrara marble and ormolu mounted fireplace, the shaped and moulded shelf above frieze centred by fluted panel adorned with trails of foliage and ribbons, the pater...

Early 19th century, Italian neoclassical console table with veneered verde antique top, the base having original faux painted verde ...

Beautiful exclusive antique fireplace made of Carrara marble from Italy! This 19th century fireplace is in the style of Louis XV and richly decorated with various ornaments in the fr...

A large and imposing English William IV fireplace in pencil vein Carrara marble, with paneled pilaster jambs with twin corbel brackets supporting a long wide and generous mantel. Som...

A late 18th century Georgian English neoclassical chimneypiece, with a wide breakfront shelf. The centre tablet carved in high relief of a classical female figure in a garden. Flanke...

American brass and polished steel fire tools resting on a turned urn finial marble stand. Set consist of poker, tong and shovel, Early 19th Century.

Unique 18th-Century Fireplace – Rouge Royal Marble Period: 18th century Origin: France Material: Rouge Royal marble A rare antique fireplace in Rouge Royal marble 18th-centu...