Fireplace; France, c. 1900.

Fireplace; France, c. 1900.
Carved red marble.
Measurements: 130 x 173 x 49 cm.
Fireplace, made in France around 1900 with neoclassical aesthetics. Executed in carved red marble, the piece stands out for its structural sobriety and the sculptural richness concentrated in the central frieze, which contrasts with the austere geometry of the whole.
The overall structure is composed of straight lines and well-defined volumes, with rectangular lateral columns resting on a trapezoidal base, which provides visual stability and architectural presence. The marble, with its irregular veining in pink and purple tones, provides a tactile and chromatic quality of notable sumptuousness, in tune with the bourgeois taste of the time.
The ornamental focus falls on the high relief of the fireplace, where a mythological scene with a strong classical imprint is represented: infant figures, probably little love birds or genies, play among the waves, while a semi-recumbent female figure -possibly a sea nymph- holds an undulating veil that integrates with the movement of the waters. The composition, of remarkable dynamism, is resolved with a technical mastery that reflects the academic sculptural tradition in force in France around 1900.