Fireplace Mantels & Surrounds · Victorian (Queen Anne, Eastlake)
American Marble Mantelpiece with Carved Arched Opening (c. 1853)
A white marble mantelpiece made in America around 1853, with an arched firebox opening, a carved central cartouche and a deep shelf, typical of mid-19th-century city parlors.
Design characteristics
Arched marble mantels like this one filled the front parlors of American townhouses in the 1850s. The design is restrained: a softly arched opening, a carved cartouche at the keystone, scrolled shoulders and a deep, moulded shelf. Their proportions translate well to wood. A paint-grade or stained-hardwood version, with the arch and cartouche carved on the CNC, can bring the same character to a fireplace that has lost its original surround. The Metropolitan Museum's example is roughly 50 by 74 inches, a useful benchmark for scale.
Classification
- Category
- Fireplace Mantels & Surrounds
- Material
- Marble
- Motifs
- Carved cartouche, Arched opening
- Date
- ca. 1853
- Recorded medium
- Marble
- Dimensions
- 50 x 74 in. (127 x 188 cm)
- Evidence
- Documented historical object
Architectural context
Carved mantels, layered trim and dark, decorative hardwoods. Britain and the United States · c. 1837–1901.
