British Fireplaces and Mantels

A Baroque Bolection fireplace mantel in Italian Pavonazzo Marble A Baroque style bolection fireplace surround of bold proportions with very finely carved columns with a rising ogee ...

A tall antique Jacobean style carved oak fireplace with an impressive linen fold panelled overmantel. Striking in style and stature, this fireplace dates from the late 19th century ...

A stylish and fashionable fireplace design produced in white statuary marble. The fireplace has a moulded bolection frame on plain plinths, with a stepped cornice shelf...

A late 19th century Jacobean style oak fireplace, reclaimed from a house in Somerset. With its simplistic architectural style and warm wood colour, this antique fire surround holds a...

Circa 1890 England Quality fire dogs with subtle and elegant brass work showing their original patina and lustre with swirling finials.

An exquisite example of early 19th-century English craftsmanship, this Neoclassical marble Fireplace mantel combines stately proportions with refined decorative details. Crafted from...

19th century cast iron & brass fireplace basket grate. French Styled original victorian free standing fire basket & grate. This Typical Frenc...

A stunning late 19th century Georgian style cast iron fire grate; a handsome addition to any fireplace. Pairing function with flair, this reclaimed fire grate is cast with an ornate ...

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

An English bolection in Calacatta Verde marble. The moulded frieze and jambs in the classic Queen Anne style, with moulded plinths that follow jamb moulding. English, modern. N.B. Ma...

An original Jacobean style wrought and cast iron fire grate on dogs by Thomas Elsley (stamped), British manufacturers of cast iron decorative works between 1882 and 1905. This antiq...

A large English ornate brass fire screen with reed and berry moulding, acanthus leaf feet. The front is divided into three sections by the moulding with brass supports at rear. Scrol...

A rustic 17th century English country style oak fireplace, reclaimed from an old farmhouse in Ludlow, Herefordshire. Dating from around 1690, this antique fireplace is more than 330 ...

A large and imposing carved pine Georgian style fire mantel, circa 1790 with later alterations. Designed in the architectural style, this antique fireplace features large scrolling ...

A Fine English 19th Century Victorian Ebonized Wood and Edged Bone-Inlaid Summer Fireplace Screen. The ornately decorated screen centered with a needlepoint tapestry of a Tarot card ...

Unusual Chippendale style hanging wall shelf made of fine mahogany and featuring eight intricately turned spindles and a handsome carved crown.Original mirror glass. See measurements...

Dating from the Mid-19th Century, this English antique cast iron fire grate or brazier is over 170 years old. It is highly decorative, cast in iro...

English brass Urn finial and artistic wire work fire place fender with stylized scrolled feet. Early 19th century.

A fireplace nursery guard with narrowly spaced vertical ironwork decorated with swags around the top and two center scrolls, on iron base and rod supports, and topped with a brass rail...

An antique Scottish pine and composition fire surround in the style of Robert Adam. Dating from the late 18th century, this antique fireplace displays beautiful hand carved elements...

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...

Regency statuary marble fireplace of large scale and great quality. With full free standing Sienna marble columns, capped with egg and dart Doric capitals. In the centre of the friez...

A reclaimed Edwardian style mahogany fire surround. This fireplace will fit in seamlessly with the styling of modern and traditional properties alike. It has an original finish, the ...

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

A distinguished English neoclassical fireplace mantel exquisitely carved in luminous Statuario marble and inlaid with striking panels of richly veined Brocatello marble. The composit...

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 /...

English Victorian papier-mâché pearl inlaid black lacquered fire screen with needlepoint panel depicting a bird sitting on a floral spray.

19th century Victorian Gothic fireplace grate. Traditional blackened finished basket grate with church like spike fencing flanked & support by Serpent Style Andirons / Fire Dogs. ...

A large 19th century English polished steel, Gun metal and brass fire grate in the Georgian manner. Brass tapering legs surmounted by classical urn finials. Intricately pierced Gun Metal fret work and bowed shaped bars again surmounted by brass finials and a large square fireback.

This 18th century neoclassical Adam style carved pine mantlepiece features a carved and gilded urn and scrolled foliate decorated frieze.

A petite antique pine fireplace. At over 200 years old, this timeless piece has certainly stood the test of time. Its stripped finish displays a neutral tone suitable for modern and...

An antique medieval style round wrought iron freestanding fire basket with supporting firedogs. At over 130 years old, this fire grate has certainly stood the test of time. With a...

A finely worked wrought Iron fire grate from the Arts & Crafts period, extensive scroll detail with framed fire brick back.

An English early 19th century carved wooden fire mantel, circa 1800. More than 220 years old, the exquisite carvings of this stunning fire surround ...

A stunning early 20th century Georgian style white statuary marble and Tinos green marble fireplace decorated in the neoclassical style with a carved angel to the centre tablet and m...

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 large antique neoclassical wooden fireplace. This impressive, large scale fire surround is crafted in hardwood and ornately decorated with composition embellishments, including fl...

A finely cast hob grate from the early 19th century, in the manner of George Bullock. The scrolled Acanthus leaf console uprights with inverted reeded panels, bowed front bars with b...

Double-slip Georgian carved fireplace in Italian grey bardiglio marble Can be made in different sizes.

A handsome antique Victorian oak fireplace. This handcrafted fireplace is constructed in good quality English oak with a smart patinated finish, ready to be pride of place in the mai...

A black-iron Thomas Jeckyll register stove front grate front from the foundry of Barnard, Bishop and Barnards. The full surround with asymmetric floral design, roundels with four bee...

19th century English brass trimmed wrought iron nursery guard with wide "fish-net" mesh. Used originally to protect pets and children from the fireplace. Now a decorative accessory.

19th Century Georgian Pair Of Cast Iron Fireplace Insert Panels. Splayed Slips With Recessed Panels Showing Typical Decorative Features Such As Swags, Urns With Floral Patterns Used ...

A reclaimed Victorian wooden fire mantel dating from the early 1900s. This unusual surround features a boxy design that brings a streamline, uniform...

A refined and characterful statuary marble fireplace of strong architectural design, after Sir John Soane. The piece is cleverly decorated with a design of simple open concave finger...

A stately English Regency period fireplace mantel crafted from lustrous black Belgian marble, adorned with classical gilded bronze fluted columns and Ionic capitals. Dating to circa ...

The simple profile of this Victorian mahogany mantel suits contemporary and traditional interiors alike. Dating from the early 20th century, it has a square moulded profile, tapering...

An antique arts and crafts style English solid oak fireplace. Dating to circa 1900, this antique oak fireplace is a beautiful piece still displays a rich mid oak finish that has sto...

A reclaimed Victorian walnut fire surround. Dating to circa 1900, this fireplace is handcrafted from good quality English oak with a handsome dark finish. Carved stylised flowers an...

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...

A Superb and Rare George III, Neoclassical Siena and Statuary Marble and Painted Pine Fireplace with Porphyry and Antico Verde Faux Marbles Circa 1785–95. Inset with painted polychr...

A Breccia Viola marble fireplace of stylish architectural design. The aperture surrounded by a wide frame stepped moulding. The plain and squat ...

A grand and imposing Victorian fireplace in dramatic portoro marble, with rare and beautiful Cornish serpentine columns. The fireplace's inverted breakfront shelf looms over an under...

A good quality antique carved oak fireplace featuring three beautifully hand carved panels to the frieze. Reclaimed from a large private home in Hampshire, UK, this Arts and Crafts p...

A mid 19th century Victorian pine fire mantel, reclaimed from a large country house near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. This large scale fire surround will make a beautiful feature of prope...

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 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 ...

A decorative cast iron Victorian fireplace insert. The outer frame with cast rope moulding, the burning area with cast foliage below and pol...

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...

An attractive and architecturally stylish Bbreccia Viola marble mantelpiece. The serpentine opening with fluted keystone below a recessed panelled frieze, three corbels support a cor...