Early 19th Century Fireplaces and Mantels

An early 19th century antique Regency style pine fire mantel with a stripped finish, ready for paint, stain or wax. Dating from circa 1820, this fireplace has stood the test of time ...

American fire place fender with brass rail, pleasing scrolled artistic wire work, and resting on a decorative brass rope base. New York, Early 19th century.  

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 French solid oak Louis style fireplace. Dating to circa 1900, this surround handcrafted from good quality oak with a handsome mid oak finish. Showcasing striking do...

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...

French bronze flanking recumbent lion and filigree scrolled medallion adjustable fire place chenet with a step back molded edge base. Early 19th century Chenet dimensions : 40.75" ...

Cupid fireback / backsplash Very nice detailed and superbly casted antique 19th century fireback. The fireback displays a very stout looking cupid p...

A very smart English Regency specimen marble chimneypiece in Kilkenny black fossil marble inlaid with Breche Violette marble panels which have been...

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 ...

Lovely tall and decorative fireback with a depiction of Poseidon holding trident, the sea, four horses and cherubs holding trumpet. Bottom is rough and has a repair, overall great...

Very interesting Rustic French Louis XV Fireplace. This nice limestone mantel show its age and history. Saved from a derelict building it stood in the rain for many years before ...

American Empire serpentine fire place fender with bulbous faceted brass finials, brass rail top, and pleasing scrolled artistic wire work. Philadelphia, Early 19th century.  

American brass and artistic wire work fireplace fender with flanking ribbed ball finials. Early 19th Century

This extraordinery 19th Century French marble fireplace has a molded frieze with a flower leaf center and cordons set adjacent to molded panels. The molded pillars with solid acanthu...

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 ...

The chimneypiece bears a center tablet that closely resembles that by Robert Adam in the library at Kenwood House, the overall form echoing his work in its detail and in the quality ...

American serpentine brass rail and pleasing wire work fire place fender with flanking urn finials, early 19th century.

Antique fireplace in gray stone, hand carved with various figures of birds, flowers and putti, very rich in decorations, with shields and lilies in the corners, it comes from an anci...

This limestone mantel, reclaimed from an early 1800s French farmhouse, adds a touch of history and elegance to any room. With its timeless design and quality craftsmanship, it serves...

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19th Century, pair of French gilt bronze fireplace chenets. This valuable pair of Fireplace Chenets was made in France in the early ninetee...

English brass and polished steel fire place fender with a decorative pierced gallery, original flanking bulbous finial tool holders, interior iron pan, and resting on the original th...

Pair of American brass flanking faceted finial andirons with centered turned faceted columns, meticulously turned matching log stops, original wrought iron rear dog legs, and resting...

American Empire serpentine fire place fender with brass ball ringed finials, brass rail top, and pleasing scrolled artistic wire work. Boston, MA early 19th century.

An antique French fireplace in quality breche marble with ormolu mounts and original cast iron chamber. In typical Empire Style, and well-proportioned having fine tapering columns supported on square foot blocks and ormolu mounts, again caped with ormolu egg...

An exceptional antique carved white statuary marble chimneypiece from the late Georgian period. With full free standing and fluted ionic columns under carved putti corner blocks. A substantial egg and dart cornice shelf...

French Regency brass scrolled acanthus foliage and berry motif folding fire place screen with egg and dart molded base, Early 19th century.

A heavily carved 19th century statuary white marble fireplace in the Louis XV manner. The jambs with stiff acanthus leave to the base, surmounted by bell flowers and scrollwork. The ...

A fine quality 19th century, circa 1830 French Louis XVI fireplace in veined Statuario marble. The frieze carved with flutes, exquisitely carved to the centre with fruit, flowers and...

American brass and artistic wire work folding hinged panels fire place screen, Early 19th Century.

English Regency brass fire fender with hand chased floral motif, bossing, circular medallions and terminating on lions paw feet, Early 19th Century.

A large hand carved and gesso fire place with over mantle, faux painted marble columns and frieze. With central plaque with Adams urn and foliate detail , th...

A compact and fine quality Regency Neo-classical Italian Statuary marble fireplace. This superbly carved, pure white statuary marble fireplace was produced in Rome, Italy, approximat...

Late 18th or early 19th century French neoclassical period fireback with a gardening scene. The fireback is made of cast iron and has a black / pewter patina. The fireback is in a g...

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This large antique French fireback originates from France, circa 1800. Measurements: 36'' W x 33'' H x 1'' D.

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A large early 19th century fire mantel constructed from pine with a finely carved frieze panel featuring Sphinx. The end blocks are carved with celestial globes, something we have ne...

Pair of American brass banded flanking ball finial andirons with circular ringed plinths, matching curvature banded log stops, and resting on the original wrought iron rear dog legs....

Pair of French brass and polished steel Urn finial andirons with decorative acanthus foliage bead work, hand hammered squared plinths, and resting ...

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...

An early 19th century chimneypiece with free-standing Doric columns supporting a simple moulded shelf, a Bardiglio double moulding framing the opening and a central tablet of a water...

Charles X fireplace in Carrara marble, 19th century Dimensions of the fireplace: 75,5 x 91,5cm

This rare white statuary marble mantel originates from the private collection of a Long Island resident who reported that this piece was in the possession of President James Monroe d...

A small Bathstone chimneypiece in the Jacobean manner. Beautiful scrolled strapwork with rose detail adorn the frieze. Scroll decoration framed within the fluted spandrel archs. Flut...

English Regency brass fire fender with artistic wire work gallery, original flanking tool holders, lower fluted banding with decorative shell & foliage motif, and resting on the orig...

An exemption all quality of England’s finest cast iron and brass fireplace grates. Very rare indeed. Salvaged from a London town house.

French brass freestanding fire place screen with a figural cornucopia scrolled handle, centered musical and ivy ribbon medallion, foliage scrolled be...

Louis XVI limestone fireplace mantel, dating from the beginning of the 19th century. Inside dimensions : 108cm wide and 92cm high

American wire and brass fireplace fender with pleasing decorative wire work, Early 19th century.

A rare Irish chimneypiece of grand proportions in statuary marble. The generous moulded shelf rests over a wide panelled frieze which is mounted with a tablet of exceptional quality....

19th century Georgian cast iron Hob grate fireplace A Fabulous conditioned original antique Georgian half hob grate fireplace insert with cast orn...

Set of English brass and polished steel decorative pierced foliage and spiral cast fire tools, early 19th century. Set consist of Shovel, Tong, and Poker.

An imposing period English Regency pine fireplace. The finely carved jambs featuring urns and swags surmounted by carved rams heads, the end blockings with carved round paterae, the ...

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 late 18th century, early 19th century neoclassical chimneypiece in white statuary marble, centred with a Wedgwood ' Bacchanal' tablet, with 3/4 round fluted Ionic columns fronting the jambs. The Wedgwood tablet depicts a central group of three drunken bacchic cherubs, flanked by single cherub figures and cherub groups taking cover...

19th Century Timber Fireplace Mantlepiece George Jackson and Sons. Ltd. A unique and rare large antique chimney piece made in wood with fine Carton-Pierre decoration, attributed and authenticated to and by George Jackson and Sons Ltd. London. This large, proportioned design is shown as a bespoke variation from an original featured design in the Jackson's historical catalogue of 1834. The opening height and jambs being adapted to a client's own specifications at the time of manufacturing. Although dated as catalogue 1834, the style is late Georgian with very a strong Robert Adams influence. The fireplace design consists of applied Carton-Pierre Acanthus Leaf pattern running across the front edge and sides of the shelf moulding above a run of dentil mouldings. This in turn is surmounting a glorious frieze of husk swags having detailed trophies either side of the main featured centre block showing a classical allegorical group flanked by elegant urns holding plentiful fruit and flowers. The mantelpiece opening is finely detailed with a fluted and patera border and the jambs are equally supported by prominent carved volutes at the foot blocks. The fireplace jambs were specifically customised, a variation at the time on order from the original drawing in the catalogue with Acanthus Leaf design to the corbels which in turn were elongated to the height of the mantel. The original opening height was also adapted creating a more horizontal feel to the entire chimney piece. George Jackson began trading from Rathbone Place near Oxford Circus in London (where this fireplace was purchased and made) At the time the Adam brothers` style of architecture and interior design was central to what became known as the age of elegance. Jackson produced reverse cut hardwood timber moulds and pressed out a new material they had brought to Britain called Composition “Compo”, as it is colloquially known, is a putty-like substance introduced to enable the production of enrichments without using the then long-established method of wood carvings. The first Royal Warrant was issued to Jacksons by George IV in 1826 This timber fireplace mantel...

A French 1820’s chimneypiece carved in Bardiglio and statuary marble. An early 19th century French fireplace in the Egyptian revival style, the simple rectangular shelf surmounts a frieze with palmettes and rosette paterae carved in white marble. This is supported by Jambs with finely carved caryatids, palmettes at centre and feet on the footblocks. The Egyptian revival became popular in France during the era of Napoleon’s expeditions. This turned into a style in art, architecture and decorative arts especially after the Description de l'Égypte was published from 1809. Known in England as Description of Egypt...

Fine 19th Century Cast Iron Fireback. Of Panel form with fine detail of Venus being attended by two putti with tridents. Quite a well executed piece. Removed from a New Hampshire ...

American Empire serpentine fire place fender with brass urn finials, brass rail top, and pleasing scrolled artistic wire work. New York, early 19th century.