10158 A large English statuary marble relief, deeply carved with a Baronet’s coronet at the centre within a tied laurel wreath, supported by branches of berried bay, and within a deep moulded border, originally the tablet from a large chimney piece.
English
Mid 19th century
Width: 32 ins (82 cms)
Height: 13.5 ins (34 cms)
Depth: 2.5 ins (6 cms) £4,500
Description
This very large statuary white marble relief would have originally been the centre panel of a monumental chimneypiece or doorway. The coronet of a baronecy would indicate that it was installed in a private residence though often this would be accompanied by further heraldic devices below the coronet and it has not been possible to identify the family.
Inbetween the wars in the 1920s and 1930s, many large London houses were demolished and the architectural salvage scrapped or sold. In most cases, the individual history of the items has been lost unfortunately but we can admire the quality of the pieces.
John Harris’s book “Moving Rooms- the trade in architectural salvages” is a forensic account of the wholesale transfer of panelling, chimneys, staircases and even wallpaper, most of which crossed the Atlantic durig this period with the shift of world power.
