A large and masculine 19th century arched fireplace surround carved in rich vareated Verde Antico marble, a generous double thick bullnose shelf rests above a stepped and moulded under cornice, supported by a raised scalloped fluted keystone, and flanked by a pair of large spandrels each carved with relief shaped fielded panels and moulding. Quarter round side returns connect to deep revels, all resting on large shaped foot blocks with Belgian Black Marble insert cappings, a splendid and exceptional example shown with its original highlighted arch cast iron insert.
 
Scottish, circa 1895
Arch opening size: 908mm high x 1033mm wide.
Overall base block width: 1828mm
 
Marble notes:
Verde Antico marble is a breccia of serpentinite, schistose calc-silicate and crystallite marble clasps in a lime-green serpentine matrix, from Larissa, Thessaly, Greece, the quarries were re-opened sometime between 1895- 1905, for the first time since the reign of the Emperor Justinian (483-565) A similar type marble has been obtained in later years from Northern Italy that was both cheaper and faster to extract. Examples of this can be found all over the world, circa 1930 Cartier used this stone to front its Jewelry stores, Fifth Ave is a good example.
 
Verde Antico from Thessaly is thought to have been used architecturally at least since the 1st century CE, this green 'marble' became a popular decorative choice in the Roman Imperial era and found wide appreciation by later Roman and Byzantine builders. We are told much was quarried from this coastal area in Northern Greece, this stone was used especially by the 4th century CE in numerous liturgical buildings constructed by Constantine the Great and would come to embody through polychromatic palette the ideas of Roman luxury, wealth and power.
 
Height
47.64 in (121 cm)
Width
77.76 in (197.5 cm)
Depth
15.56 in (39.5 cm)