Saturday, March 8, 2014

Victorian artistry: A Magnificient Mantel !


Look very carefully at this mantle, the fine carving, woodwork and the tile work, A high end Victorian mantle masterpiece.

Look again, Its not carved wood, its not tile, Its not even wood! It is in fact a CAST IRON fireplace and everything you 'think' you see is metal. Compounding, the "fool the eyes look" of this, it is perhaps some of the best faux grained paintwork I've ever seen.

This was not an everyday 'production piece' but something special.  Victorian faux graining was an art form to take common ordinary wood and make it appear to be a more expensive species. This takes that art to even further levels by making cast iron look like wood. The subtle variation of the tile work is impressive as well.

Quite a conversation piece for ones parlor!

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