Marble Fireplaces and Mantels

A Superb Late 18th to Early 19th Century Statuary Marble Chimneypiece Carved in High Relief A neoclassical fireplace produced in Italy most probably for the English Market, in the m...

Antique 19th century Dutch Provincial marble-top ceramic tile stove, Circa 1880.

A large period Louis XV fireplace executed in superior quality Breche Violette marble. The jambs with deep side returns retaining their original brass vents, the front panels cantere...

A Scottish late 19th Century Fior Di Pesco marble fireplace surround. A plain edged top shelf sits directly above a stepped frieze, flanked in turn by substantial jambs set with int...

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

Classic original antique fireplace surround in Grey / White marble from the French Regency period, 18th century. The mantel is in great condition and ready to be installed. Measureme...

Very fine and decorative Rococo fireplace from Holland. Beautiful decorative piece, nice proportioned with serpentine breakfront shelf above a very decorative and swooping freeze ...

19th century black marble fireplace, circa 1860 An exceptional antique highly carved pure black marble fireplace dating to the 1860’s. The jambs with scrolled acanthus consoles...

A large period Louis XV fireplace executed in superior quality Breche Violette marble. The jambs with deep side returns retaining their original brass vents, the front panels canter...

This Antique French style marble fireplace features elegant stop-fluted console jambs and delicate button detailing. The Breche marble displays a rich array of hues, creating a strik...

Beautiful antique fireplace mantelpiece made of Carrara marble from the 19th century in the style of Louis XV. Equipped with a beautiful ornament in the middle and also beautiful orn...

This beautifully ornate fireplace, hand-carved in the Louis XV style, is made from semi-polished White Carrara marble. It features delicately-carved floral details on both the lintel...

This elegant French Carrara Marble Mantel is crafted from high-quality white Carrara marble renowned for its durability and timeless beauty. Boas...

Exceptional original antique fireplace of the French regency period, 1st half of the 18th century. This piece was installed in a grand salon with a oak pannel wall. The Royal dark marble and deep carving are sign of a luxury home decor...

Beautiful antique fireplace set consisting of a clock and a pair of cassolettes. The black marble clock rests on lions' feet and is surmounted by a bronze engraved Medici vase with eight faces of Greek...

This is a exceptional rare Art Deco period fireplace surround with original trumeau. The combination of the different exclusive marbles reflected the ...

A very fine mid-19th Century French neoclassical fireplace surround in golden vibrant Convent Giallo di Siena marble. A deep rectangular shelf with an ...

Exceptional original French chimney mantel in perfect condition. The fronton is one solid piece of marble. decorated with macarons and an amazing movement. a very raffinated piece. I...

This is one of a kind fireplace surround in Carrara marble was made by special order for the Castle of Fontainebleau. The identical but in grey mantel was ...

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...

Beautiful exclusive mantelpiece made of the serene marble Carrara from Italy. This 19th century fireplace in Louis XV style is a real eye-catcher. With graceful lines and detailed fi...

A late 18th century George III period Irish Chimneypiece executed in Statuary white and Convent Siena marbles. The shelf with a typically Irish moulded edge. The frieze having a carv...

A William IV period Irish carved corbel fireplace in highly fossilised Kilkenny marble. The pilaster jambs with elegant carved corbel brackets supporting wide and generous mantle wit...

Napoleon III fireplace in turquin blue marble circa 1880 hearth dimensions 88 x 103 cm

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...

An antique French marble and gilt bronze mantelpiece of exceptional quality and large scale. After a design by François Antoine Vassé (1681-1736) for the Salon d'Hercule of the Palace of Versailles, France.  Made from the finest and richest coloured Breccia Violleta marble with superbly cast 24-carat gold gilt bronze mounts. The solid marble jambs with gilt-bronze Nemean Lion masks at the top, these are under an arched frieze with a gilt-bronze centre cartouche depicting the mask of Hercules wearing the Nemean lion pelt. Flanking Hercules are extremely well sculpted and flamboyant gilt-bronze cornucopias, also called 'the horn of plenty', a symbol of abundance and nourishment. Salon d'Hercule Beginning in 1724, work on the Salon d’Hercule recommenced. Louis XIV commissioned architect Jacques Gabriel...

A nice carrara marble firplace mantel from the 19th Century with a marble floor plate. To place in front of the chimney.

Fireplace In Black Belgian Marble And Mascarons In Statuary White, lion claw feet on consoles. small chip on the tablet and consoles. dimensions of the fireplace 86x72cm

A large and elegant early 19th Century Scottish statuary marble Corbeled fireplace surround. A generous square edged top shelf, resting above a unadorned shaped frieze, flanked by ta...

A pleasing and simple Antique Victorian Carrara marble Demi-pillard fireplace, with fluted projected capitols with under mounted Rosso Verona pillars, with Carrara marble capping...

Antique fireplace in black marble and lovely colored brocatelle marble details. The Louis Philippe style console fireplace mantel ...

A very large Scottish Georgian early 19th century statuary marble fireplace surround originally from Edinburgh's New Town. A generous square edged top ...

This is a very unique marble combination typically used in the inter war period. The shelf is made in parefeuille. Measures: 171 cm EW 67.32". 103 cm EH 40.55". 109 cm...

Elegant French fireplace crafted from white Carrara marble, dating back to approximately 1860. This exquisite piece showcases the timeless beauty and sophistication characteristic of...

A state of the art antique mantle in Gris St-Anne marble from the Louis XVI period transition, 18th century. The fronton and jambs are decorated with its original bijouterie in bras...

This small vintage fireplace surround in white statuary marble is a very unique piece. This mantel would perfectly fit in American colonial sty...

Crafted in France during the 1890s, this French African Breccia Marble Mantel boasts intricate carvings throughout the piece. Made from stunning African Breccia stone, this mantel is...

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...

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 ...

Extraordinary Dutch Louis XIV Smuiger, executed in Gris d'Ardenne marble. This chimneypiece was made circa 1700 for a small farmers residence in Haarlem. Simple but beautiful cur...

This antique fireplace surround in Burgundy reddish marble stone has a naive rustic touch. Waxing can make this piece having a richer look, more to porfire. The legs are very elegant...

A fine original antique fireplace surround in the Louis XVI style of the 19th century. In perfect condition from Paris and executed in Skyros de Grèce Marble Measures: 145 cm Exterio...

An ornately carved French antique fireplace in Rouge Royal marble. The jambs with scrolled Acanthus, surmounted by beaded C scrolled Acanthus end blocks. The centre cartouche of flow...

AN EXCEPTIONAL EARLY NEO-CLASSICAL STATUARY MARBLE CHIMNEYPIECE, CIRCA 1760. With moulded breakfront shelf, the tablet carved with a recumbent lion, on simple scrolled jambs. Close...

The Chelsea is a tall and elegant neoclassical style fire surround in Italian Carrara marble made by Ryan and Smith. Modelled straight off an 18th centu...

This finely carved Louis XVI–style mantel originates from France and is crafted from richly veined Arabescato marble. The frieze features vertical fluting across the header, framed b...

Antique Napoleon III style fireplace, made in the 19th century in a semi statuary marble. The entablature is adorned in its centre with a woman's profile in a pearl medallion This fi...

This mantel is of the highest quality and it is in perfect condition. The details of the carving reflects the wealth of the former master. This fireplace surround was installed in a ...

Impressive Carved Wood Mantel And Trumeau With Yellow Sienna Marble Accents

A fine and small Turquin Bleu marble fireplace surround in perfect condition perfect for a fine bespoke French style Classic room. Measures: 148 cm EW 58.27". 111 cm EH 43.70". 1...

A grand and original Rococo treasure in white Carrara marble from the golden period in Paris, 19th century. This chimney piece is in a great condition and will be the masterpiece to ...

White Carrara Marble Louis XVI Mantel circa 1880

This is another one of a kind original fireplace surround in White Statuary Marble. The marble of the mantle has a nice patina. Very fine details in the carving. A great condition of...

This reclaimed Louis XVI fireplace surround has been expertly carved and crafted from Italian marble with attractive veining. The fluted jambs are surmounted by carved paterae to th...

A stunning antique English white statuary marble fireplace, circa 1920, beautifully decorated with fine sienna marble ribbon inlays to the frieze and jambs. Though this marble fire ...

This is a Belgian red marble Regency style fireplace surround. Measures: 167 cm EW 65,75" 117 cm EH 46,06" 124 cm IW 48,81" 94 cm IH 37" 43 cm S 16,92"

This exclusive and rich colourful marble fireplace surround is a prefect match for a contemporary eclectic chic interior design concept. The Louis XVI style is classic and high in qu...

Phenomenal mantel from Jules Cantini. The marble is called the Jaspe Du Var Rose. In the right panel you see a seal from the world known Jules Cantini workhouse. The Cantini museum i...

Beautiful antique fireplace of Arabescato marble from the 19th century in style of Louis XVI. This fireplace has a beautiful ornament in the middle of the front part and at the top o...

A 19th Century Georgian Manner lightly veined statuary marble fireplace surround of good proportions. A deep break-front top shelf with channelled under moulding sits directly above ...