NINETEENTH CENTURY FRENCH FIREPLACE SURROUND IN GREY ST ANNE AND STATUARY MARBLE

A striking antique nineteenth century French Louis XVI style mantle in contrasting Italian white Statuary and French St Anne marble. The shelf with simple concave quarter-mould to its edge sits above the corner blocks formed of oak leaves and acorns, the jamb and frieze panels each with layers of laurel leaves, all raised on block feet. 

£9,500

AW025

  • Sainte-Anne des Pyrénées is a distinctive brecciated grey marble that enjoyed widespread use throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly in the production of fine furniture and architectural ornamentation. Highly prized for its decorative qualities, it was frequently employed for commode and table tops, as well as for chimneypieces and other interior fittings in both France and England. The stone is quarried from the marble basin of Arudy in the French Pyrenees, a source that remains active to the present day. 

    The finely carved foliate ornament of this fireplace is emblematic of the Neoclassical style that flourished in France during the reign of Louis XVI (1774–1792). Drawing inspiration from the art and architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, Neoclassicism embraced a refined vocabulary of classical motifs, among which the laurel wreath held particular significance. Traditionally associated with triumph, honour, and civic virtue, the laurel leaf reflected the intellectual and aesthetic ideals of the late Ancien Régime. Such symbolism remained deeply resonant in the decades preceding the French Revolution, which culminated in the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793. 

  • Width 57½” / 146cm  

    Height 43¾” / 111cm  

    Depth 12⅛” / 31cm  

    Opening height 35¼” / 89.5cm  

    Opening width 40⅝” / 103cm  

    Width at base    56” / 142cm