English Building and Garden Elements

A curious and whimsical family of toadstools made in England to populate your garden or patio. Handcrafted from reconstituted stone and metal pipe with hand-painted decoration. Pleas...

A pair of monumental solid satinwood doors with classical egg and dart carved decoration and fine quality brass door furniture. Brass door pulls marked CHING (Comyn Ching of Londo...

A super quality Gothic Revival oak, leaded and painted high fired glass three-fold fire screen, in the style of AWN Pugin, with roundel and mistletoe decorat...

Late 19th-Century Hand-Forged Victorian Gothic Revival Fire Screen – Exquisite Craftsmanship --- Discover the exquisite craftsmanship of our late 19th-century hand-forged and fire...

A large antique Victorian mahogany fireplace reclaimed from a large country house in Yorkshire. Dating to circa 1890, the substantial jamb...

A collection of 1920/30s illuminated exit signs from an old theatre. Made by Interlite, comprising of brass casing and reverse painted, etched glass displaying the word EXIT.

A fine English faux bois strawberry planter pot of salt-glazed terra cotta and of very good scale, from the early 20th century, modeled as a natur...

A pair of 19th Century Neo-classical brass fireplace andirons with fluted tapered ionic columns mounted on square plinths decorated with circular wreaths. The rear log-supports are i...

This enchanting antique arched door reminds one of an ancient castle or English church. Beautifully weathered by the ages and embellished with elaborate metal strap hinges, it dates from the mid 19th century and features vertical plank construction to the front with an original handle and ledged and braced construction to the back. With its aged, timeworn look, this old arched oak door...

a handsome, tall, slender, elegant pair of Adam-style painted (greenish) candle stands (or plant stands) supported by three columns with lion's paw feet and ram's heads, green grey a...

Hand crafted brass and copper coal pot. Beautiful patina in contrasting metals. Nicely banded design with nicely swooping handle and great finial ador...

The Royal Palaces of India by George Michell. Published by Thames & Hudson, 1994. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. As early as the 14th c, stories glorifying the exotic palaces of ...

An Edwardian brass fire place fender, English, circa 1910.

An attractive and richly coloured antique Victorian period fireplace made from very desirable Portoro Nero marble The arched panels with raised and fielded panels are centred by a ke...

Dating from the 17th century, this English carved stone griffin or stylised dragon statue is an architectural fragment from history. Over 350 years old, ...

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 late Georgian steel fireplace fender, with ornate bronze scrollwork decoration, removeable rests for fire irons, English, circa 1830.

Christopher Dresser designed geometric encaustic tile. Manufactured from 1870-85 by Minton and Company, Stoke upon Trent. Fully signed on bottom. A ...

An antique Twyfords marbleised sink with a BICLAM cast iron stand from the Simon Kirby Museum of Bathroom Sanitaryware. Dating to circa 1883, this original Victorian sink would make...

A late 19th century stained glass roundel detailed with the crest of The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Institute was establis...

A large and impressive 19th century style Statuary marble corbel fireplace surround. A deep shelf with ovolo edge moulding rests above a recessed cushion panelled frieze, flanked by ...

An exceptional pair of 18th century English Rococo gilt bronze andirons or fire dogs. The bold shape of these andirons relate to designs of Thomas Johnson (1714–1778), one of London's pioneers of the 'Modern' or French style, later known as Rococo. In the 1750s he published several books of designs which were widely used for things like ceiling moulding. These books include 12 Girandoles in 1755, The Book of the Carver in 1758 and monthly between 1755 and 1758, 150 New Designs. He also had a great influence on Ince and Mayhew's book, The Universal System...

Thomas Jeckyll, attributed, probably made by Barnard Bishop and Barnard. A pair of Anglo-Japanese brass fire dogs with stylized love birds to the circular tops.

An outstanding pair of cast statues on associated plinths, possibly cast in Portland Cement, of the Unicorn of Scotland and the Lion of England. S...

Large English lead pig garden ornament / sculpture, circa 1950s. Very heavy.

English Victorian oak bed steps from the 19th century depicting two roaring lions. These English Victorian oak bed steps from the 19th century are no...

A fine English garden statuary bust of Julius Caesar, the famed Roman emperor, in the Classical style (Roman or Greek) of composition stone. Perfect for a garden room or conservator...

Barnard, Bishop, and Barnard & Dr C Dresser, with the original B, B, & B paper label to the back. A rare Aesthetic Movement walnut fire surround, inset with four Linthorpe pottery c...

This tall and dramatic pedestal created of English terracotta was made in the mid 19th century. Fashioned in a modeling process the piece is stamped by the maker and has an amazing a...

A pair of antique glazed Minton tile panels. This pair have a desirable crazing creating a characterful time worn look. With all their elements combined, they make the perfect decora...

This is a Georgian revival marble fireplace. An English, fire surround with mantelpiece in the classical taste by Dominic Hurley, dat...

Hotels, Motels and Condominiums: Planning, Design and Maintenance by Fred Lawson. Architectural Press / Cahners 1976, London. Hardcover with dust jacket. "...

Late 19th century pair of neoclassical urn form planters with two figural handles and putti relief. Attractive weathered grey patination. Can be planted i...

A large and substantial cast iron Victorian manner horseshoe shaped insert. A generous back plate supporting a high relief decorative frame, the scallop shaped fire back with scallop...

A smart set of reclaimed pine cupboard doors with a stripped and sanded finish, ready for painting, staining or waxing. Dating from the Victorian e...

This is a large and old brass basin, absolutely 100% hand-hammered brass made from the 18th century in British. It is a scarce item and a lovely classical form.

A finely modeled English garden stone whippet or greyhound dog in a recumbent position on a long rectangular raised platform base, with a collar around the neck. Perfect for a garde...

A pair of English composition lion sculptures from the late 20th century, with weathered patina. Born in England during the late 20th century, each of this pair of composition lions ...

An essential tool in the creation and finishing of furniture, this 19th-century English ornamental lathe is an object of beauty in and of itself. The extraordinary machine...

American Louvre: A History of the Renwick Gallery Building by Charles J Robertson. D Giles Ltd. London 2015. 1st Ed softcover. Designed by James Renwick Jr. in 1858, the building tha...

With brass top rail and decorative wire swag and screen below.

An antique bolection oak Edwardian fireplace. Dating to circa 1900, this fireplace is in a handsome Bolection form accompanied by a charming shelf. ...

A beautiful Victorian era stained glass window depicting a tree of life style scene. We are also selling two other panels in a similar theme. Dating to circa 1880, this antique stai...

A good quality period Victorian fireplace in Statuary white marble. The jambs with corbels featuring acanthus leaves with decorative panels below. The frieze with centre panel carved...

A simple and elegant Georgian farmhouse style pine fire surround circa 1800 with a stripped finish; ready for painting, staining or waxing as desired. Though over 220 years old, this...

An English Victorian period painted metal obelisk finial from the 19th century with turquoise, blue and light green painted accents and weathered appearance. This English Victorian p...

Antique Georgian English footed fireplace coal scuttle with shovel. The carrying handle at the pediment, the knob on the slant door and two eleg...

An English garden ornamental sculpture of a fruit basket (or bouquet) - of composition stone - featuring a variety of stone fruit upon a woven basket. ...

An antique buff terracotta statue depicting a Renaissance figure possibly by Blanchard. We are also selling a group of 3 similar figures as well as ...

An elegant and highly unusual figural fountainhead. Made from cast lead, this is a late 19th century / early 20th century piece of superb quality. The lady figure is standing upright...

A charming 19th Century manner cast iron fire grate basket. A high shaped back with curved sides, the four barred fire front, with shaped legs adorned with brass finials. This piece...

A large scale antique pine fireplace mantel finished in primer, formerly used as a kitchen fire surround. Though this reclaimed fireplace dates from the late 19th century, its simple...

Decorative Early 20th century bronze/brass coal scuttle now used for kindling wood storage.

Very nice Brass griffioen, fire place screen 4 piece folding fire screen. Griffioen, mythical animal.

Titled ‘Eel, Eels’, this is a small stained glass window hanging made by the late stained glass artist, Patrick Reyntiens. It is signed an...

A beautifully cast table, dating to the early 20th century, the legs have been recently refurbished in black, and the top is a bespoke wood worker made thick reclaimed pine, finished...

A lovely 19th Century elegant polished brass fire screen of large proportions, fabulous quality and fully restored. The protective wire mesh of rectangular form is set within a beau...

Great looking garden or Orangery chair, cast in aluminium and painted in Emerald green. English circa 1950. Height 82cm x Width 60cm x Depth 67cm Seat Height 45cm