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610:. Certainly the most luxurious of materials is marble. In the past only the finest of rare colored and white marbles were used. Today many of those fine materials are no longer available, however many other beautiful materials can be found worldwide. The defining element of a great mantel is the design and workmanship.
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Up until the 20th century and the invention of mechanized contained heating systems, rooms were heated by an open or central fire. A modern fireplace usually serves as an element to enhance the grandeur of an interior space rather than as a heat source. Today, fireplaces of varying quality,
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designed and carved magnificent mantels, some of which can be found on display in the world's great museums. Exactly as the facade of a building is distinguished by its design, proportion, and detail so it is with fine mantels. The attention to carved detail is what defines a great mantel.
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mantels can be the focus of custom interior decoration. A mantel traditionally offers a unique opportunity for the architect/designer to create a personal statement unique to the room they are creating. Historically the mantel defines the
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In domestic work of the fourteenth century, the chimneypiece was greatly increased in order to allow of the members of the family sitting on either side of the fire on the hearth, and in these cases great beams of
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The history of carved mantels is a fundamental element in the history of western art. Every element of
European sculpture can be seen on great mantels. Many of the historically noted sculptors of the past i.e.
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and shelf, the upper part of the chimney breast being paneled like the rest of the room. In the latter part of the century the classic architrave was abandoned in favor of a much bolder and more effective
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superseded all others, and a century later they came again into fashion. The Adam mantels are in wood enriched with ornament, cast in molds, sometimes copied from the carved wood decoration of old times.
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A mantel offers a unique opportunity in its design for a sculptor/artisan to demonstrate their skill in carving each of the fine decorative elements. Elements such as
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were employed to carry the hood; in such cases the fireplace was so deeply recessed as to become externally an important architectural feature, as at
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was based. In France, the finest work of the early
Renaissance period is to be found in the chimneypieces, which are of infinite variety of design.
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materials and style are available worldwide. The fireplace mantels of today often incorporate the architecture of two or more periods or cultures.
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At a later date, in consequence of the greater width of the fireplace, flat or segmental arches were thrown across and constructed with
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is a magnificent example; the upper portion, carved in oak, extends the whole width of the room, with nearly life-size statues of
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332:. Mirrors and paintings designed to be hung above a mantel shelf may be called "mantel mirror", "mantel painting" and so on.
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Where the fireplace continues up the wall with an elaborate construction, as in historic grand buildings, this is known as an
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In the eighteenth century, the architects returned to the Inigo Jones classic type, but influenced by the French work of
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are commonly used to decorate a mantel. One might say that a mantel can be an encyclopedia of
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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in the roof. As time went on, the placement of fireplaces moved to the wall, incorporating
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with gilt bronze, height: 111.4 cm (43¾"), width: 169.5 cm (66¾"), depth: 41.9 cm (16½"),
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have been introduced, its artistic as well as its practical significance has lessened.
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over the chimneypiece. Towards the close of the eighteenth century the designs of the
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feature of a room, but as fireplaces have become smaller, and modern methods of
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Up to the twelfth century, fires were simply made in the middle of a home by a
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734:. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 165–166.
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The
English chimneypieces of the early seventeenth century, when the purer
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797:. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 384.
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The choice of material for the mantel includes such rich materials as
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style of the interior decor, whether it be traditional i.e. Classic,
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Fireplace mantel of a marble slab atop decorative stonework, at
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Modern wooden fireplace mantel in a suburban
American home.
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Home, Materiality, Memory and
Belonging: Keeping Culture
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90:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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720:Spiers, Richard Phené (1911). "
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764:. London: Palgrave Macmillan
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202:October 2017
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82:Please help
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558:Mantels or
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516:Inigo Jones
477:Renaissance
396:Haddon Hall
303:Mantelpiece
285:times as a
275:mantelpiece
812:Fireplaces
681:References
639:vegetation
608:fine woods
355:, or with
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315:ornamental
186:improve it
110:newspapers
39:improve it
643:sculpture
627:figurines
600:limestone
585:Victorian
560:fireplace
544:sculpture
542:. Figure
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489:Charles V
380:archivolt
353:hypocaust
317:and most
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190:verifying
45:talk page
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660:Millwork
649:See also
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615:capitals
581:American
548:portrait
404:Poitiers
369:chimneys
357:braziers
319:artistic
283:medieval
728:(ed.).
718::
631:animals
604:granite
573:Italian
525:molding
512:Italian
465:cornice
412:tracery
384:joggled
365:lantern
336:History
323:heating
184:Please
124:scholar
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724:". In
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635:fruits
596:marble
589:Gothic
577:French
538:. and
505:France
485:Bruges
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444:Styles
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427:Today
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131:JSTOR
117:books
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637:and
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