Nineteenth century French fireplace surround in grey St Anne and statuary marble

A striking antique nineteenth-century French Louis XVI style mantel in contrasting Italian white statuary and French St Anne marble. The shelf with a 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. Sainte-Anne des Pyrénées is a distinctive brecciated grey marble that was widely used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially for fine furniture and architectural ornamentation. The finely carved foliate ornament of this fireplace is emblematic of the Neoclassical style that flourished in France during the reign of Louis XVI, drawing inspiration from ancient Greece and Rome. The laurel leaf motif symbolises triumph, honour, and civic virtue, reflecting the intellectual and aesthetic ideals of the late Ancien Régime.