Early 19th Century Building and Garden Elements

An elegantly simple English early 19th century statuary white marble fireplace, the plain pilaster jambs adorned with finely carved tied Laurels....

True classic fireplace surround reflecting the timeless elegance of French design. Sculpted in the early minimalistic 19th-century period, it hails from the picturesque region around...

A pair of French Early 19th century Louis XV gilt bronze figural Chenets Andirons. The scrolled and pierced body, each surmounted with a figure of a young boy and a young girl, both ...

A large Regency period fireplace from the Early 19th century in "Old English" pencil veined Carrara marble. The slim pilaster jambs supported on square foot blocks, surmounted by car...

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...

An antique Georgian wrought iron pedestrian gate with original posts sourced from Oxfordshire. At over 2 metres tall, this superb gate is traditionally crafted at the hand of a talen...

An antique Georgian waxed pine bullseye fireplace crafted over 200 years ago. Although the design is simple, this Georgian style surround speaks volumes in an interior, ornamented w...

A large and well proportioned Regency fireplace in Statuary white marble. The panelled jambs with cushioned side returns stood on separate foot b...

Pair of American brass ball banded finial andirons with ringed turned faceted plinths, supporting curvature matching ball log stops, original rear wrought iron dog legs, and resting ...

American brass and artistic wire work fire place screen with original flanking rear hooks for securing to fire place surround, Early 19th century.

An early 19th century French Empire style fireplace fender with dogs. Bronze, brass, steel, and gilded bronze decoration.

Early 19th century French Neoclassical Period fireback with two Roman men. The fireback is made of cast iron and has a natural brown patina. Upon request, it can be made black/pewte...

Very decorative rustic antique German door. The side of the door that was originally visible to the outside, is made of solid oak and the other side of the door, the inside of the ho...

Though this antique English limestone bolection fireplace dates from circa 1800, it clean-lines and soft limestone colour are an understated addition to interiors traditional and con...

A reclaimed six panel front door constructed from oak.

American fire place mantel made of poplar with Greek key motif and carved corner sunburst supported by turned column legs. All original . Early 19th ...

A wonderful early 19th century Jardiniere from the South of France. Handsomely crafted from iron. Terrific for any interior of garden.

Antique Embossed Brass Planter having all over grape vine decoration with original lion mask carrying handles to either side raised on ball and claw f...

Embrace the beauty of imperfection with this small, but perfectly formed, carved stone planter. An early primitive piece, likely dating to early 1800s, hand carved from natural stone...

American brass rail and pleasing wire work fire place screen, Early 19th century.

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

You are viewing a gorgeous Grand Tour bronze of a seated toga clad maiden The figurine is Agrippina the Younger - mother of Emperor Nero - and is based on the original by GG Zoffoli,...

Each of this pair of large early 19th century terracotta campagna urns, in the neoclassical style, sits atop a molded socle plinth base, its baluster body ornamented with gadrooning,...

A large, rare and elegant early 19th century 1810c Scottish (Edinburgh’s New Town) Georgian Statuary marble fireplace surround. A generous square edged top shelf sits above a stepped...

This is an antique set of library steps. An English, walnut and oak step storage stand, dating to the Regency period, circa 1820. Fascinating library or country house kitchen steps ...

A magnificent over 200 year old French Empire Period (1804-1815) parcel gilt walnut armorial hall pedestal / plant stand. Born in France in the early 19th century, most likely near the Italian border or Napoleonic territory in present day Northern Italy, most impressive palatial scale, exceptionally executed one-of-a-kind sculptural work, having carved fiolate apron with H monogram, decorative scroll work, stylized grotesque satyr mask with acanthus leaf accent, over high relief crest mural crown depicting four towers representing fortified city walls, shield escutcheon coat of arms with three fleur-de-lis above wavy lines depicting sea water in front of castle tower, supported by figural winged female caryatid, flanked by volute supports, joined by turned stretcher. circa 1810 Provenance / Acquisition: An important San Antonio estate Acquired from highly reputable auction house Austin Auction Gallery, est.1983, Austin, Texas. Texas Mansion Carved French and Italian Antiques catalog...

Late Regency/Early Victorian wrought Iron footstool. Historical white paint and scroll feet. Width 34cm, Depth 29.5cm, Height 20.5cm

This is a quite unique original antique fireplace surround in the famous Bleu Turquin marble. The columns are giving that extra debt to this mantle...

Beautiful 18th/19th Century French Neoclassical Period fireback with a weeping cupid. The fireback is made of cast iron and has a black/pewter color. The condition is good, no crack...

American mahogany three-tiered upholstered library steps with serpentine rails, cross stretchers, and terminating on turned bulbous legs. Early 19th century.

Exclusive antique sandstone castle fireplace mantle from the 19th Century. To place around the chimney. See last picture for all dimensions.

An antique late Georgian or Regency period painted pine and gesso/composition fire surround. Dating to circa 1820, this stunning fireplace is an original of the English Georgian and ...

This is a rare original fireplace surround out of a paneling room. The Royal Breche D’ Aleppo marble has been fixed on solid blocks of hard stone. The sides are in the Belgian Abbey...

Pair of Roman, elaborately hand-carved, Carrara marble, Corinthian capitals. Sold separately.

Channel your inner Gray Gardens with this beautiful Hollywood Regency cast iron garden furniture set. Painted in white, this set include...

An architecturally designed Regency period fireplace in statuary white marble. The pilaster jambs with moulded and stepped capitals, supporting a stepped long frieze with plain centr...

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 very powerful antique cast iron Victorian black Gothic fire basket. With Very Unique Andirons as stylized griffins with rings through their noses an...

An early 1800’s cast iron urn after the design by Robert Adam, believed to have been forged at the Carron Iron Works, Falkirk. The lidded urn of neocla...

Pair of Directoire Yellow Painted Tole Cachepots, France ca. 1800

Very nice and colorful fireplace mantel from the Northern part of Italy. This Italian beauty dated from the beginning of the 19th century it was reclaimed from a large estate. Its ...

A wonderful and charming early 19th century Garden Table from the Provence region of France. Soundly crafted from painted iron with a plateau that tilts and wonderfully sculpted leg...

A hardwood polychromed architectural finial from Belgium. Circa 1800, possibly earlier. Intricately hand-carved and decorated in typical neo-gothic fashion, the outside is finished...

American brass rail & pleasing scrolled wire work fire place screen with original exterior hooks. Hooks were originally used to attach fire place screen to fire place surround, early...

A tall antique rustic French walnut door, suitable for interior use. The tall and narrow stature of this early 19th century door certainly make it an impressive piece. The warm walnu...

A rare 19th century Georgian Triptych paneled cast iron fireplace set. A central paneled grate opening with a central circular framed cherub h...

This is a red toned Burgundy hard limestone fireplace surround. It is simple, plain, yet elegant. It is in 3 solid blocks. Works perfect with modern and contemporary art work. Measu...

Large Baptismal font from Florence Italy with Sienna marble font and mixed marble base. Formerly owned by the Romano Family, a prominent family of antique dealers to the popes and r...

Very exclusive antique Louis XV marble stone fireplace mantel from the 19th century. Fireplace from France and to place in front of the chimney.

The bicolor hard limestone for this antique fireplace surround is a Burgundy Corton stone flecked with violet colored veins. We call it designed by nature for a rustic, French country room. We can provide the hearth in original antique Burgundy dalles with original ancient surfaces...

American White Pine fire place mantel with carved molded edges, one board back, and rectangular carved vertical legs with squared plinths . Early 19th Century . Fire Box Dim. 40" Tall / 40.5" Wide...

An early 19th century French garden sundial with heavy cast iron column base and carved marble dial plate with bronze gnomon. Nicely detailed bal...

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.

Large weathered iron garden statue of mercury (Hermes) the winged messenger The statue is very heavy it is almost 4ft tall and made in Iron, it ...

19th Century polychromed terracotta pair of Angels. The pedestals shown in the photos are not included. Measurements: Angels figure: 69 cm (23,6...

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

Classic English Regency, this handsome mahogany stepdown sideboard features two large deep drawers and one center hidden drawer at top and two larger drawers beside; one with a lead liner for decanters. There are two four-paneled doors at bottom flanked with spiral reeded columns. This very substancial piece stands on eight turned feet and retains the original brasses and keys. Suitable as a buffet or with a free standing bowl, a bathroom sink with ample counter space.

Pair of early 19th century Anduze jars from Boisset Poterie. Sold together and priced $15,900 for the pair. 1st Anduze: Height 33 inches x Diameter 28.25 inches, and 2nd Anduze: Heig...

Set of quality brass fire irons with quality rope twist handles. Consisting of a shovel, poker and pair of tongs.

An early 19th Century English Regency Neoclassical statuary marble fireplace, carved in Italy to the highest quality with crisply and deeply carved undercutting to the sculptural dec...