Carved Fireplaces and Mantels

English Georgian Pine Classical mantle with original carved gesso, foliage, and medallion motif. Late 18th Century. Overall measurements- 67.25" Wide at top / 7.25" Deep at top /...

Extremely Rare 17th Century Louis XIII Chateau Fireplace, 1610-1643 Rare and unique French antique castle fireplace Louis XIII period Limestone Chimney with a magnificent Trumeau T...

American brass finial and polished steel fire place tools resting on the original squared grooved marble stand, Early 19th century. Set consists of pierced shovel, tong, and poker.

A late Regency style fireplace made from Italian Statuary Carrara marble. handcrafted in our Northern Irish workshop from imported Italian Statuary Carrara marble, faithfully copied ...

This authentic 17th century fireplace surround in Belgian Gris d’Ardenne marble is a truly rare architectural find. The stone displays a sophisticated palette of cool greys, soft whi...

This beautiful French 19th century Louis XVI mantel features pristinely gilded bronze mounts with ribbons and a floral design. The mounts contrast quite well against the marble’s lig...

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...

21st Century Black Nero Marquina Marble Fireplace Surround A Refined Nero Marquina marble Fireplace Surround, Crafted From Premium Black Marble With Elegant Natural White Veining. Wh...

21st Century Black Granite Fireplace Mantlepiece The Cool Beauty Of This Hand Carved Stone Fireplace, A Versatile Choice For Period Or Modern Settings. Georgian-influenced, It Has ...

The lines of the Hamilton carved stone fireplace are influenced by the design of the Provençal style of Southern France, but updated for 21st century appeal. The fireplace legs, in ...

A Regency chimneypiece of scale and presence, the whole carved from Belgian Black marble, with fluted Doric columns for jambs. These columns employ entasis, the application of a gent...

Antique 19th century Louis XVI French Rouge and Carrara marble fireplace mantel. Beautifully veined marble fireplace mantel creates a f...

This white hand-carved marble chimney-piece with Scagliola inlay and break fronted shelf attributed to Pietro Bossi who is known to have worked in Dublin ...

Hand-carved in France, circa 1870, this small brocatelle marble mantel once graced the fireplace of a Parisian apartment. Brocatelle marble is named after the famous Italian fabric b...

A large ‘Hopton Wood’ limestone moulded bolection chimneypiece fireplace with rectangular framed frieze and plinths. The chimneypiece is made up of three carved moulded lengths and ...

Antique French limestone fireplace, datin from the 18th century. Inside dimensions : 144cm wide & 124cm high Depth : 26cm (upperpart) / 75 cm (side)

An architecturally designed fireplace in "Old English" Carrara Marble. Somewhat in the manner of Sir John Soane. The plain pilasters and frieze with deep moulded in grounds, backing ...

A large and very fine quality Louis XV style fire place in Carrara marble. The profusely carved frieze, protruding from beneath the mantle with gadrooned carved centre cartouche , su...

A petite, hand carved Georgian style pine fire mantel salvaged from a townhouse in Bath, UK. This elegant wooden fireplace is over 150 years old and has beautifully preserved details including floral embellishments to the corner blocks, stylised dentals and lambs tongue carving. Highly ornate, this antique Georgian fireplace...

An antique English Jacobean revival oak mantlepiece with original dark finish. This tall and well proportioned wooden fireplace with original bevelled glass mirror is profusely carve...

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

Antique old vintage fireplace mantle, hand-built in black lacquered solid wood with bas-relief floral carvings, from Italy 19th century, ideal both as a fireplace frame and as a bed ...

An antique late 18th/ early 19th century Italian Statuary marble mantlepiece of fine quality Small in scale and beautifully made in Italy around the year 1800. The exquisitely carve...

A solid limestone fireplace of fashionable design, produced from three single blocks of stone. The 'Naples Bolection' is a stylishly simple and robust example of a bolection moulding fireplace...

A large antique English carved oak mantelpiece in the Palladian style. With full rounded and fluted Doric columns, egg and dart mouldings and a carved ...

A Very Refined 1780S Neoclassical Chimneypiece In White Statuary Marble With Tinos Inlays Of The Highest Quality. An exquisite late 18th century chimneypiece of Robert Adam’s design....

This English Regency style mantel is carved from white statuary marble with classic gray veining. In the center of the apron is a rectangular white marble urn motif with floral detai...

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...

19th Century Black Slate Fireplace Mantlepiece. A Large Beautiful Antique Victorian English Made Fireplace Surround Made From Black Welsh Slate. This Stunning Fireplace Surround Has ...

18th Century hand carved wooden fireplace mantel that will bring a cozy ambiance to your sitting room.  

An Irish antique fireplace from the Regency period in Italian Carrara and Siena marbles. The jambs with demi lune reeded panels on book matched...

The Bourgogne fireplace evokes the classic French Provincial style. It starts deep at almost 13" at the top shelf piece. It comes down into a broad arched opening, and then into the ...

A small 18th century Louis XV rouge marble fireplace. The richly moulded and panelled frieze is centred by a simple Rococo cartouche, all supported on panelled jambs. French, late 1...

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...

An impressive reclaimed Statuary marble fireplace surround with Verde marble inlay. We currently have a matching pair of these surrounds (ARMSTRONG & DARLING); both were reclaimed fr...

A distinguished and gracefully sculpted Louis XV-style fireplace mantel, originating from France circa 1850, this exquisite piece embodies the opulence and fluidity of the 19th centu...

Antique Mantle Fireplace, richly carved in Burgundy stone, with central shell plus 2 shells on the sides, carved wavy, original from the 18th century, There are no sides (to be walle...

Beautiful Louis XV white marble fireplace mantel, dating from the 19th century

An elegant, early 19th Century Italian chimneypiece exquisitely carved with classical and floral motifs, that reference ancient Roman architecture. This reflects the style that preva...

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...

A magnificent and large palatial antique French Louis XVI style white marble and gilt bronze mantle. The structure is composed of rectangular white marble blocks with a stepped corni...

Louis XIV style carved limestone fireplace mantel created by hand and perfectly distressed to create great age. The natural lines and neutral tones allow this piece to work in a vari...

The Jackson, from our Elizabeth Scott Collection, is a modern stone fireplace that's all about lines, squares and rectangles. Two prominent square panels are on featured either side...

Rustic stone fireplace surround from the 17th Century. The beige hard limestone brings instant French slow living feeling in the room. Measureme...

Elegant carved wooden fireplace dating from the end of the 18th century, made of fir and walnut. Its pediment is decorated with a rich carved decoration of foliage scrolls and a cent...

A Stylish & Elegant English Queen Anne Style Bolection Fireplace Surround in Nicely Veined Italian Arabescato Marble, with a Deep Shelf. External Width: 57 3/4″ – 147 cm Depth: 7″ –...

Antique 19th century French fireplace Dimensions: All Measurements approximate - Overall: 46.25" x 17"D x 42"H - Depth: Varies depending on ins...

Stylish French limestone fireplace mantel. Inside dimensions : 135cm wide x 140cm high Depth : 35cm / 66cm

A large bolection fireplace produced in three solid blocks of Emperador marble by Ryan and Smith. The Roma Bolection is a stylishly simple and robust e...

A Regency period marble fireplace with reeded jambs, plain frieze and roundel detail to corner blocks. Stepped plinths to meet the hearth. Internal width: 35.5" Internal height: 38"...

An opulent Louis XV period fireplace mantel masterfully carved in richly colored San Giorgio Breccia marble, dating to circa 1740. This exquisite example of Rococo craftsmanship feat...

This impressive authentic 19th century French fireplace surround is carved from magnificent Red Griotte marble, a historic stone famously used in the Kings cabinet interior and on th...

Provenance Ex. Christopher Gibbs and thence Nigel Bartlett, advertised April 20th 1995 Previously Advertised by Spink & Son Ltd of King Street SW1. A rare and unusual George II, Palladian fireplace in variegated Breccia Violette marble decorated in contrasting statuary marble. The exceptionally fine naturalistically carved centre tablet bared a basket of fruits and flowers, attributes of spring personified and abundance. The jambs, executed in the style of Sir Henry Cheere...

An antique black marble fireplace from the Regency period. With bulls-eye roundels at the top of tall pilasters with no plinths. The cushion molded frieze with reeded shelf on top. ...

American white pine sunburst mantel piece with carved molded edge top, decorative carved urns and flanking fluted capital ringed columns. Early 19th Centu...

Antique Louis XV style fireplace in Belgian black marble The deep moulded mantelpiece rests above a panelled serpentine frieze, which is centred by a carved Rococo style clam shell ...

An antique Neoclassical style carved pine fire surround. Dating to the late 19th century, this fireplace has stood the test of time across the centuries. It is beautifully ornate, c...

A masterpiece in the collection. This magnificent French fireplace in the elegant Rococo style is characterized by its size and appearance. The antique fireplace comes from the cente...

Majestic and antique Serena stone fireplace of great importance, hand carved in the legs and pediment with geometric shape. Serena stone is a sandstone widely used in historic Tuscan...

This Louis XV style paneled room was made in the early 20th century. The Louis XV era stone fireplace was made in the 18th century. The woodwork may be likened to the work of Jansen....