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Style Napoleon III / Ref.9199

Black marble fireplace mantel

Dimensions
Width 77'' ⅛  196cm
Height 53'' ⅛  135cm
Depth: 20'' ½  52cm
Inner width: 44'' ⅞  114cm
Inner height: 39''   99cm

The History of Belgium in the second half of the 19th century was strongly influenced by the colonial experience of Africa. The décor of this mantel is of colonial inspiration: the jambs are adorned with two Negro figures in tapered sheaths and the entablature presents at its center a beautiful head of a lion framed with laurel leaves and bordered by two fox cubs. The presence of European animals suggests that in addition to symbolizing the far away lands of Africa, the lion also refers to Belgian heraldry. The charge of the coat of arms of the Belgian Kings is a gilded lion and the fox is relatively common in Flemish heraldry.
Carved in Black perfectly uniform Belgian marble with no veins the mantel is embellished with gilded carvings of scrolls and stylized globes. This one of a kind mantel probably made for an important figure of the Kingdom of Belgium.

The depth indicated (20 inches 1/2) is the mantel shelf depth at its widest above the jambs. The sides are actually deeper (34 inches 3/4) allowing space for an overmantel. (See pictures)