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!

An Anglo-Japanesque Aesthetic Movement Mantel Restoration

Regular readers of this blog may recall we obtained a high end one of a kind Anglo-Japanesque Aesthetic Movement Mantel. This mantel had suffered the indignities of being painted a dull gray which largely obscured its delicate designs.

Polychroming this mantel required some exploratory of the surface to determine some of the colors used, however you then have to adjust the colors which over 100 years have faded. The idea of course to reclaim the 'exuberance' of the Victorian Aesthetic Movement.

The background features a delicate fern leaf pattern with stylized flowers and medallions. One can but imagine the Parlor it came from..

In fact if you need a one of a kind mantle you can find it listed on our ebay  Auction.

But if you do not need a mantle, never fear, I am pleased to announce that we are releasing stencil design based on this mantle soon, so you can have a little Aesthetic Movement in your home.