Premier Items

Stock: 14780

A tall and finely made white Statuary Marble Georgian chimneypiece. The wide corniced shelf rests above the plain frieze which is centred by a tablet depicting The Triumph of Love. Flanking the frieze are laurel wreathed endblocks above fielded jambs with corbels in the form of stylised fern fronds terminating in bellflowers. This antique fireplace exudes the simple elegance characteristic of the period. English, circa 1790.

Link to a section showing full range of similar/related neo-classical chimneypieces

	Width	Height	Depth
External	74 13⁄16" 190 cms	59 5⁄8" 151.5 cms	7 1⁄2" 19 cms
Internal	45 1⁄4" 115 cms	43 5⁄8" 110.8 cms

Stock: 14553

Early nineteenth-century Italian chimneypiece in Carrara marble, with a richly carved under-shelf and frieze. The recessed frieze has a central tablet carved with Venus in repose; this is flanked by two pairs of birds, each bearing a garland in their beaks. The endblocks are carved with large Medusa masks which rest on engaged fluted columns with delicately carved capitals of curling acanthus leaves. The fluted columned jambs gently widen to finish in an elegant base.
Italian, circa 1830.

Shown here with fire grate SNo 14629.

Link to: Antique English Regency chimneypieces inc. George IV fireplace mantels.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	73 3⁄16" 186 cms	52 3⁄16" 132.5 cms	12 3⁄16" 31 cms
Internal	54 1⁄4" 138 cms	42 1⁄8" 107 cms

Stock: 14633

A highly ornate and rare antique stone fireplace surround in the Louis XV Rococo style exuberantly carved throughout with abundant floral and foliate detail. The moulded shelf with bead and reel edging rests above an embellished serpentine frieze centred by a stylised rocaille cartouche with floral trails flanked by scrolled acanthus corners. Small shell cartouche top tapering panels on the jambs which rest on sturdy footblocks.
Photos before restoration. French mid to late 18th century.

Shown here with replica fire grate SNo 10920 not included in the price.

Link to: Antique Rococo Chimneypieces inc Louis XV English Scottish Chippendale Rococo fireplace mantels.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	62 3⁄8" 158.5 cms	46 7⁄8" 119 cms	17" 43.3 cms
Internal	50 1⁄8" 127.3 cms	34 5⁄8" 88 cms

Stock: 13353

A monumental French Renaissance style antique chimneypiece highly carved in creamy Caen Stone. The massive entablature, with its breakfront shelf centred by a podium above fruit and a grotesque mask, has a boldly carved frieze of mythical dragons and serpents amidst scrolling foliage. There are two large humorous figural carvings on the endblocks. To the left is the figure of a furtive peasant and to the right that of a lounging court jester. The whole is supported on a pair of free standing columns, with elaborate capitals, fronting the jambs.
French, mid 19th century.

Shown here with fire basket SNo 14374 not included.

Notes: Caen Stone is a light and creamy yellow Jurassic limestone formed approximately 167 million years ago and quarried near the City of Caen in north western France. It was used in the building of many historic French churches and abbeys and was also partially used in the construction of Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London in England.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
External	79 7⁄8" 203 cms	61 13⁄16" 157 cms	23" 58.5 cms
Internal	45 11⁄16" 116 cms	46 1⁄2" 118 cms

Stock: 14776

A fine Victorian Gothic Revival walnut and marquetry library table attributed to A.W.N. Pugin. The octagonal top, with a stylised medallion and florally detailed banding of inlaid woods including burr walnut, ebony, padauk, boxwood, dyed sycamore, birch and satin birch, rests above a pair of frieze drawers and is supported on four legs carved in the typical Pugin style joined by a rosette decorated carved strut underframe.
Provenance: Originally in the possession of The Fine Art Society, New Bond St, London.
English mid-19th century.

Link to: Antique furniture

	width	depth	height
	72" 182.9 cms	29" 73.7 cms	36" 91.4 cms

Stock: 14804

A fine and grand Georgian style brass and cast iron antique fire basket. The arched backplate sits behind a three barred grate mounted with five tulip vase finials above a pierced and engraved serpentine apron depicting mythical dragons amid scrolling foliage. The grate is supported on a pair of four columned standards topped with taller tulip vase finials. English, circa 1870.

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	41 1⁄2" 105.5 cms	35" 89 cms	20 7⁄8" 53 cms
Back width	26" 66 cms

Stock: 14727

A fine Gothic Revival Caen stone chimneypiece, attributed to John Middleton (1820–1885). This grand chimneypiece has double columned jambs in a garnet coloured Serpentine marble which support a Languedoc marble shelf. The fireplace bears attributes of Norman ecclesiastical architecture, with zigzag mouldings framing both the frieze and the arched opening due not only to Middleton’s passion for church architecture but also reflecting the great religious revival of the nineteenth century; the Oxford movement perhaps being the most famous.

It is likely to have come from a grand Gothic Revival House in Cheltenham or its environs. It would have no doubt come from a room of grand proportions and it certainly would have made a magnificent centrepiece.

English, circa 1870.

Notes: Orphaned from a young age, Middleton was left only a modest allowance which he used to train as an architect in the North of England. He did however manage to travel to Europe, which influenced his style a great deal. Middleton went on to design a number of churches, residences and even railway stations in the favoured Gothic style of the period. Some of the most beautiful residences and public buildings he designed were in Cheltenham, including the Cheltenham Ladies College. Nearly every private residence he designed had a grand chimneypiece. These Gothic creations were hewn from both stone and marble, with grand columns and bold carving, not so different in design from gothic sedilia.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
External	96 1⁄8" 244 cms	61 13⁄16" 157 cms	18 1⁄8" 46 cms
Internal	48" 122 cms	42 7⁄8" 109 cms

Stock: 10110

A rare and important pierced and engraved steel George III antique fire grate. It was manufactured in bright steel with very finely engraved foliate and acanthus detailing, applied beading, a skirt of lozenge paterae and lidded urn shaped finials set above chamfered engraved legs..

This large fire basket is from a design by Robert Adam, and probably made in the late 18th century by an iron founder one Henry Jackson of Saffron Hill, Smithfield in London. A similar grate is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington and there are a further two in the 18th century Spencer House in St. James's, London.
English, circa 1790.

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
	43" 109.2 cms	37 1⁄2" 95.3 cms	21" 53.3 cms

Stock: 14166

A pair of very fine and tall Italian Renaissance style brass figural andirons surmounted by figures representing Roman Gods, one is of of Jupiter with his eagle the other of Juno with her peacock. They stand on ornate urns, embellished with cherub masks, held by pairs of small dolphins and are raised on pedestals above swagged cherub masks flanked by pairs of putti. Each is supported by large pairs of fierce stylised dolphins on plinth feet. After models attributed to Alessandro Vittoria (1528-1608) a leading sculptor in late 16th century Venice.
Italian, possibly French, late 19th century. Photo before final cleaning.

Link to: Antique Andirons, Fire Dogs, Alare and Chenets

	Width	Height	Depth
External	14 5⁄8" 37 cms	31 1⁄2" 80 cms	9 1⁄8" 23 cms

Stock: 9137

HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE

An imposing Italian Renaissance style richly carved stone chimneypiece. Its shelf above a bold egg and dart undershel beneath which is the grandly carved frieze centred by a family crest, flanked by large palmette motifs. The crest bears the motto, “Honi soit qui mal y pense " ('Evil be to him who evil thinks). The jambs with classically styled panels of ribboned stemma nobiliare and eagles rest over pairs of mythical winged creatures on claw fee, very much in the Florentine manner. Italian, early 19th century.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
External	95 1⁄4" 242 cms	71 1⁄8" 180.5 cms	15 7⁄8" 40.5 cms
Internal	52 3⁄16" 132.7 cms	52 3⁄16" 132.5 cms

Stock: 14374

A rare and monumental cast iron Victorian, Coalbrookdale fire grate with an elaborately scrolled backplate featuring a Bagot Goat jumping a fence. The substantial basket, with a strapwork apron centred by a lion mask, is supported by a pair of large and powerful panther head standards. Provenance: The Coalbrookdale Company registered September 6th 1841 number 814 can be seen on the back.
English, early to mid 19th century.

Notes: The Bagot goat is believed to be Britain's oldest breed of goat and has lived semi-wild at Blithfield Hall in Staffordshire for over six hundred years.The Coalbrookdale Company, a foundry in Shropshire established in 1709, is probably most famous for building the world's first cast iron bridge erected and opened at Ironbridge in 1780, but it was also noted for its decorative ironwork an example of which is a set of gates opening into London's Hyde Park. The blast furnaces were closed down around 1820 but the foundries remained in use.

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	35 13⁄16" 91 cms	28 11⁄16" 73 cms	16 1⁄2" 42 cms
Back width	22 13⁄16" 58 cms

Stock: 14398

A superb, tall and elegant twin columned Gothic Revival antique chimneypiece in finely figured, softly dark grey Saint Anne Marble. This is a wonderful fireplace imposing in its simplicity and one of a kind. The wide moulded shelf rests on twin pairs of attached octagonal columns, each with moulded capitals, supported on sturdy footblocks. The plain frieze is centred by a simple shield above the slow arch of the opening set with quatrefoil carvings on the spandrels.
English, possibly Scottish circa 1860.

Shown here together with firegrate SNo 11882 now sold.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
External	82 1⁄2" 209.5 cms	54 5⁄8" 138.6 cms	15 3⁄16" 38.5 cms
Internal	43 11⁄16" 111 cms	39 3⁄16" 99.5 cms

Stock: 14397

A fine Edwardian Georgian style Statuary and inlaid Verde Antico marble chimneypiece, with a moulded shelf above inlaid dentil detail, an inlaid fluted frieze with a central tablet of cavorting cherubs flanked by oval panels of hunting cherubs and with finely carved classical maidens on the endblocks set above descending bellflowers, medallions and swags on the jambs.
English, circa 1900.

Link to a section showing full range of similar/related neo-classical chimneypieces

	Width	Height	Depth
External	82 1⁄2" 209.5 cms	65 3⁄16" 165.5 cms	9 1⁄4" 23.5 cms
Internal	50 1⁄8" 127.2 cms	45 11⁄16" 116 cms

Stock: 14311

A fine George III white Statuary Marble antique chimneypiece in the manner of Robert Adam. The fluted frieze, centred by a tablet depicting three seated musical maidens, is flanked by further musical maidens on the endblocks which are set above jambs with carved garlanded maidens on podiums and motifs emblematic of Springtime.
English late 18th century.

Shown here with fire basket SNo 13829 not included in the price.

Link to a section showing full range of similar/related neo-classical chimneypieces

	Width	Height	Depth
External	73 3⁄8" 186.5 cms	55 5⁄8" 141.3 cms	7 3⁄8" 18.7 cms
Internal	44 1⁄4" 112.5 cms	42 3⁄8" 107.7 cms

Stock: 9180

IRISH WATER SPANIELS

A rare and remarkable English Rococo Statuary Marble antique chimneypiece with richly and intricately carved floral and rocaille decoration. The boldly conceived and executed central cartouche bordered by both subtle and high relief floral design with typical English / Irish bordered panel and rocaille carved detail on the underfrieze moulding. Most charming of all are the two Irish Water Spaniels peering out from the large "C" scrolled jambs. English, circa 1760.

This chimneypiece was likely to have been made for a great London House possibly for a ladies room or drawing room.

Link to: Antique Rococo Chimneypieces inc Louis XV English Scottish Chippendale Rococo fireplace mantels.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	61 7⁄8" 157.3 cms	48 3⁄8" 123 cms	14 13⁄16" 37.5 cms
Internal	42 7⁄8" 109 cms	38 3⁄8" 97.5 cms

Stock: 14431

A rather beautiful Art Deco Statuary Marble figure of a scantily dressed young lady wearing a bejewelled costume and headdress and seated upon an alabaster plinth which has a patinated brass Phoenician Sphinx mounted to the front. The Portoro Marble base bears the inscription L. Morelli, Florence. Italian, circa 1920.

Link to: Antique sculptures, carvings, bronzes, plaques and tablets

	width	overall height	depth
	14 3⁄16" 36 cms	24" 61 cms	9 1⁄8" 23 cms

Stock: 14355

A rare, monumental and highly ornate Louis XV style deeply carved Statuary Marble antique fireplace surround in the French Baroque Rococo manner with its original cast iron insert. The upper stop fluted coffered frieze sits above and behind an enormous and most elaborately scrolled central cartouche quite simply the flamboyant focus of the whole chimneypiece. The equally massive angled, scrolled and panelled jambs, beneath the two tiered endblocks, are embellished with large acanthus detail. Quatrefoil panels sit above the panelled side returns. The signature of a J. Molinari, and the name Menton are carved above the quatrefoil on the right return shown in the second to last image below.
French, late 19th century.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	82 1⁄4" 209 cms	66 7⁄8" 170 cms	22 13⁄16" 58 cms
Internal	48 13⁄16" 124 cms	47 5⁄8" 121 cms

Stock: 14218

A wide and grand white Statuary Marble Louis XV style antique chimneypiece carved in high relief. The stepped breakfront shelf rests on an elaborately carved serpentine frieze centred by an Akroter female mask amid acanthus leaf decoration and trailing floral wreaths above a shaped moulded opening. The c-scrolled floral endblocks with tumbling floral swags sit above prominent panelled angled jambs.
English, circa 1860.

Link to: Antique Rococo Chimneypieces inc Louis XV English Scottish Chippendale Rococo fireplace mantels.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	76 3⁄8" 194 cms	49 13⁄16" 126.5 cms	16 1⁄8" 41 cms
Internal	39 3⁄16" 99.5 cms	36 5⁄8" 93 cms

Stock: 7739

An impressive large serpentine fronted 18th century polished iron antique fire basket in the manner of Robert Adam, with etched spandrels, paterae & endblocks, a beaded border and four urn finials. Identical to one in Soho House, Birmingham, the house designed by James Wyatt, but this firegrate was probably made by Matthew Boulton (1728 -1809) partner to James Wyatt and a leading light in the English Industrial Revolution. English, circa 1790.

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	38 5⁄8" 98 cms	29 13⁄16" 75.6 cms	17 13⁄16" 45.1 cms
Back panel	23 3⁄16" 59 cms

Stock: 13874

THE ITALIAN WARS
A monumental and imposing richly carved French walnut trumeau chimneypiece. The generously moulded cornice lies above a dramatically carved arched central panel dominating the trumeau frieze and depicting a scene of battle probably relating to the eighth Italian War (1551-1559) when Henry II of France declared war against Charles V ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The panel is flanked on either side by two large carved horned and winged mythical beasts and the whole rests on the wide and sturdy fireplace surround beneath.

The deep shelf of the fireplace surround, with its carved alternating bossed frieze, sits above a pair of robust fluted columns with Corinthian capitals and stepped footblocks and the deep set fireplace opening is topped by a finely carved and decorative border detail.
French, mid 19th century.

Notes: The 1551-1559 Italian War was also known as the Habsburg – Valois War. There were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Originally arising from dynastic disputes over the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples, the wars rapidly became a general struggle for power and territory among their various participants, and were marked with an increasing number of alliances, counter-alliances and betrayals.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
External	79 11⁄16" 202.5 cms	107 1⁄8" 272 cms	29 7⁄8" 76 cms
Internal	46 7⁄8" 119 cms	35" 89 cms

Stock: 13686

A rare and substantial Aesthetic antique chimneypiece on a grand scale exquisitely carved in lightly veined statuary marble. The colonnade frieze enclosing deeply undercut carved floral panels flanked by carved endblocks depicting flying angels carrying children & scatterting flowers above panelled jambs with classical vases of richly carved flowers above smaller panels with geese amongst rushes.

The side returns have three carved panels, small top panels depicting the world of music above the main larger panels of herons wrestling snakes among reeds, above the lower panels carved with shells and stylised porpoises.The fireplace opening is bordered by richly carved classical Greek architrave.
English circa 1870.
Note: Unusually the main elements of this chimneypiece are carved from solid blocks of marble.

Link to: Antique Victorian, William IV and Edwardian fireplaces and chimneypieces.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	85" 216 cms	58 3⁄8" 148.3 cms	19 11⁄16" 50 cms
Internal	50 13⁄16" 129 cms	41 1⁄4" 104.8 cms

Stock: 7740

"PETIT TRIANON CHEMINEE SALON COMPAGNIE"

A superbly carved Louis XVI antique fireplace in Fleur de Pecher, peach flower, marble with a delicately carved high relief floral centre plaque, high relief carved sunflowers on the frieze and side returns over intricately scrolled corbels with descending bellflowers on the jambs. French, late 18th century.

This antique cheminee is practically identical to that in the Salon Compagnie, Petit Trianon, Palais de Versailles - please view images below.

Link to: Antique French chimneypieces inc. Louis XVI, French Empire fireplace mantels.

	width	height	depth
external	72" 182.9 cms	46 1⁄2" 118.1 cms	12" 30.5 cms
internal	51 1⁄2" 130.8 cms	37" 94 cms

Stock: 13268

SIMPLY SPLENDID:
A magnificent and rare late 18th Century "Summer Grate".

This very important George III grate is fashioned in bright cut polished steel. It is a most generously large grate with very finely etched and engraved foliate and acanthus designs and applied beading, a skirt of lozenge cut paterae, vase shaped finials and chamfered etched legs very much in the Neo-classical style and clearly showing the influence of Robert Adam (1728-1792).

There is an identical grate in the V&A Museum, London which is believed to have been made in the late 18th century by an iron founder named Henry Jackson of Saffron Hill, Smithfield, a copy of his trade card is below.

This type of grate was called a dog grate but became more commonly known as a "Summer Grate" because the expensively etched front could be lifted off during the winter months, to protect it from damage when the fire was lit, thereby revealing behind the more simply etched second grate front. It would almost certainly have been specially commissioned to complement a grand chimneypiece.

There are two other known identical grates both in Spencer House, an 18th century mansion built in 1756-66 in St. James's, London.
English, Circa 1790.

SCALE: V. Large

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
	43" 109.2 cms	38" 96.5 cms	18" 45.7 cms

Stock: 13525

Carron of Falkirk:
A truly beautiful and grand bronze and cast iron Adam style firegrate, one of a series made by the Carron Foundry to the same design . With a beaded arched back radiating sunburst bars, elaborate Elysian scenes on the front and spandrels & slim tapering standards topped by elegant swagged urns above goats head masks. The fire basket with scooped radial bars, the pierced apron centred with a delicately embossed panel depicting a maiden with her pet lamb watched by an amorini. The Carron catalogue number and name, 'No. 8 Dog Stove' is cast into the back. Please see image below from page 16 of the Carron Catalogue Company – "Architects' Catalogue". This second Carron grate is identical in design, except for the panel on the frieze, to the polished steel and iron grate SNo 9181.
Scottish circa 1898/99.

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	37" 94 cms	35 13⁄16" 91 cms	15" 38 cms
Back width	21 1⁄4" 54 cms

Stock: 13517

THE DREAM OF JULIET

A rare and impressive Sarrancolin Opera Marble antique chimneypiece in the Baroque manner, the moulded bolection around the opening is centred by a flamboyantly scrolled cartouche flanked by a cushioned panelled frieze. The jambs with elaborately carved scrolled foliate decoration. The marble overmantel with it's high arched pediment holds a large round statuary marble panel depicting a beautiful young woman finely carved in the Renaissance manner and reminiscent of Shakespeare's Juliet and is signed F. Richard at the base.
English possibly French, circa 1900.

Notes: The Sarrancolin marble quarries are near the towns of Sarrancolin, Ilhet and Beyrede-Jumet in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in southwestern France. This chimneypiece has great presence.

Link to: Antique Baroque Chimneypieces inc English, Italian, French, Flemish Bolection fireplace mantels.

	width	height	depth
	80 11⁄16" 205 cms	88 5⁄8" 225 cms	19 11⁄16" 50 cms
	46 7⁄8" 119 cms	34 5⁄8" 88 cms

Stock: 13323

A tall and beautifully carved Carrara Marble statue of Eiar, Goddess of Springtime and one of the Goddesses of The Four Seasons. She is standing on an octagonal plinth and is holding a tumbling festoon of flowers representing the abundance of Springtime. She may have come from the gardens of an English country estate. As found before restoration. English, mid to late 19th century.

Notes: The Four Seasons were depicted in mythology as the personification of nature in its different seasonal aspects. Theros (Summer), Phthinoporon (Autumn), and Cheimon (Winter) were the other three. They were said to guard the gates of Olympus, promoting the fertility of the earth and both presiding over and directing the stars and constellations.

Link to: Antique, old vintage fountains, sculptures, garden furniture and statuary

	Width	Height	Depth
	18 1⁄2" 47 cms	65 5⁄8" 166.5 cms	20 1⁄2" 52 cms

Stock: 8168

A large and stately Baroque style antique chimneypiece in polished Belgian Blue Fossil Stone. The heavily moulded dentil shelf and corbelled frieze is supported
by a pair of generous fluted corbels above fluted jambs which rest on substantial footblocks. Belgian circa 1870.

Link to: Antique Baroque Chimneypieces inc English, Italian, French, Flemish Bolection fireplace mantels.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	91 11⁄16" 233 cms	69 11⁄16" 177 cms	28 1⁄4" 72 cms
Internal	57 1⁄8" 145 cms	53 1⁄2" 136 cms

Stock: 12911

A very fine extremely high quality polished nickel plated steel engraved Georgian style Register Grate with swagged and descending bellflowers hung from three medallions, the grate with stylised paterae and twin urn finials above a cut apron. A near pair with SNo 12910 now sold.
English, late 19th century.

Link to: Antique Fire grates and Register grates.

	Width	Height	Depth
	49 13⁄16" 126.5 cms	44 7⁄8" 114 cms	15" 38 cms

Stock: 13461

A rare Reformed Gothic Chimneypiece carved in the richly coloured and veined Ashburton Marble mined from the Linhay Quarry in Devon, England close to the ancient Stannary Town of Ashburton.

The chimneypiece is surmounted by a large stepped, corbelled shelf centred by a demi lune podium undercarved with Gothic detail. The formal stylised stiff foliage climbing the sturdy chamfered jambs, echoed around the arched opening and on the undercarving of the shelf, blossoms at the top under each shaped shelf into a more natutralistic Gothic display.
English, circa 1880.

Notes: In 1852 The Western Times, a Devon newspaper, reported that some large blocks of marble had been excavated from quarries adjoining the ancient Stannary Town of Ashburton. It was suggested at the time that the marble be used for the making of chimneypieces as the veins and colour were considered very decorative and superior to that found in any other quarry in South Devon. The Linhay Quarry was still being mined into the late 20th century.

King Edward I's Stannary Charter of 1305 had established Tavistock, Ashburton and Chagford as Devon's Stannary Towns, they were where locally mined refined tin was assessed, coined, and sold.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
	64 5⁄8" 164 cms	58 11⁄16" 149 cms	16 1⁄2" 42 cms
	36 3⁄16" 92 cms	43 1⁄4" 110 cms

Stock: 13572

'PLUM PUDDING'.
A rare Irish Gothic Revival Fossil chimneypiece of the Regency Period carved in reddish brown Armagh Marble. The deeply moulded shelf of this imposing chimneypiece has projecting podiums at either end above a frieze embellished with a series of carved diamond lozenges. The shelf is supported by a pair of hexagonal free standing fluted columns in front of wide sturdy jambs and all are resting on dual five sided footblocks.
Irish, circa 1820

Notes: Sir Charles Coote, of the Royal Dublin Society, wrote in his 'Statistical
Survey of the County of Armagh' published in 1804 "...as we approach the city of Armagh the soil, though still limestone, yet changes to a purple hue and now approaches a species of marble - fossils appear of a beautiful and excellent quality, the prevailing hue is a reddish brown which mineralogists call 'Plum Pudding'. Many of the chimneypieces in Armagh and for several miles around were made of this native marble". The designer of this chimneypiece seems to have taken inspiration from ancient Greek architecture and in stripping out all ornamentation pre-empted the Art Deco movement by more than 100 years.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	shelf width	height	depth
	77 3⁄16" 196 cms	59 11⁄16" 151.7 cms	19 1⁄4" 49 cms
	44 1⁄2" 113 cms	44 7⁄8" 114 cms

Stock: 13526

A rare Bronze Fountain Group attributed to David Rawnsley (1909- 1977).
Sculptor, Painter, Ceramicist, Film Art Director & Production Designer.

A delightful, unique and beautifully sculpted Fountain of an entwined Mermaid & Merboy resting on rocks by the sea, both are twin tailed. The Merboy holds a large fish from whose mouth a water spout falls into the clam shell beneath. There is another water spout emanating from the abalone shell held above his head. The Mermaid is holding the clam shell in which lies a large starfish. A crab, a lobster and an octopus are climbing the rock beneath and nearby are limpets and coral.

Mermaids & Merboys are legendary figures appearing throughout the centuries in the folklore of many cultures and traditionally could symbolise either danger or good fortune. This pair are of course beneficent. English, circa 1960.

Notes: David Rawnsley was in his own words 'a jack of all trades'. Initially trained as an architect and engineer he entered the film industry in his early twenties as an art director & production designer. Film credits include: 49th Parallel, One of Our Aircraft is Missing, They Flew Alone and In Which We Serve. In the 40's and 50's he started up a series of potteries. The first in Paris was followed by the famous Chelsea Pottery in London in 1952 and later by one in the Bahamas and another in Mexico. His sister Una Hanbury (1904 – 1990) was a renowned Washington sculptor of horses and Rawnsley himself became an acknowledged artist and sculptor. His parents had settled the Rawnsley family on the Isle of Capri in the 1920's and in later years he set up a studio there. During a short visit in 1977 he died of a heart attack and he is buried on the Island. One of his last bronze sculptures, that of a young maiden made in 1972, is mounted on his grave.

Link to: Antique, old vintage fountains, sculptures, garden furniture and statuary

	Width	Height	Depth
	28" 71 cms	69 1⁄2" 176.5 cms	25 5⁄8" 65 cms

Stock: 13497

A large pair of highly ornate, cast iron and silver plated bronze andirons in the Baroque style with pineapple finials above elaborate urn stems supported on scrolled shouldered legs centred by female masks above sturdy lion paw feet. Late 19th century possibly French.

Link to: Antique Andirons, Fire Dogs, Alare and Chenets

	Width	Height	Depth
	11 13⁄16" 30 cms	21 11⁄16" 55 cms	32 1⁄4" 82 cms

Stock: 13450

A massive, ornately detailed cast iron fire grate in the Gothic Revival manner. The arched backplate centred with a quatrefoil, the two barred grate is fronted by a pair of tall standards with quartered roundels set beneath stylised fleur de lys spire finials with smaller versions echoed on the grate.
English mid 19th century.

Link to: Antique fire grates and log baskets.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	40 3⁄16" 102 cms	34 5⁄8" 88 cms	21 1⁄4" 54 cms
Back width	25 3⁄16" 64 cms

Stock: 13395

A rare and unusual Art Nouveau polished cast iron chimneypiece very much in the
manner of the Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928).

This chimneypiece is identical to and made in the same series as our chimneypiece SNo 12624 now sold, but without the original woodgrain finish. It was built in two sections in the early 1900s by Wilson & Mathieson at their ironworks 'The Scotch Foundry' in Leeds. The foundry marks, Rd No. 393149, Design No. 100, can be seen on the back of the plaque please see image below

The two gently arched mirrors on the overmantle are framed by three pairs of tall lotus topped trees themselves framing three further tall slender stylised trees.
The frieze of the fire surround has an elaborately designed inset central plaque depicting a romantic landscape with a sickle moon rising over a distant mountain range, a north star, and a symbolic river entwining the trees. A bluebird, butterfly and dragonfly are in flight above a lake which is gently lapping against a shore in the foreground. Peering over the mountains to the right is the sleepy face of a setting sun. The plaque is framed by three Tulip Trees, there are two further trees set within niches on the frieze on either side and yet two more very tall variations on the tapering jambs.


English circa 1900.

Link to: Antique Arts and Crafts, Aesthetic, Art Nouveau mantels and Art Deco fireplaces and chimneypieces.

	Width	Height	Depth
External	71 1⁄4" 181 cms	86 5⁄8" 220 cms	13" 33 cms
Internal	41 7⁄8" 106.5 cms	40" 101.5 cms

Stock: 13397

A small 19th century Carrara Marble Chimneypiece Mantel in the Italian Renaissance Manner richly carved in high relief, together with it’s original cast iron insert.The frieze, centred by a merman and mermaid flanking an elaborate strapwork cartouche, depicts a pair of birds set amongst scrolling fruits and flowers symbolising Peace and Abundance. The endblocks with tall garlanded cartouche above extraordinary tripedalism satyr grotesques holding beaded garlands in their mouths perched on elaborately carved and fluted jambs, and with an enriched linked acanthus border around the opening.
Italian, late 19th century.
Shown with a pair of Satyr Andirons SNo 7645 not included in the price.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600

	Width	Height	Depth
	63 3⁄16" 160.5 cms	42 7⁄8" 109 cms	18 1⁄8" 46 cms
	44 7⁄8" 114 cms	33 1⁄8" 84 cms