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Antique Fireplace Mantels...
Gilded Age Glory!

Antique fireplace mantels from Europe were highly prized and much sought after by affluent Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries -- an era whose ostentatious displays of wealth earned it the title of . . . . .

antique fireplace mantels

      Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina


. . . The Gilded Age. Used to furnish the newly built mansions of the rapidly rising upper class,  many of
the imported chimneypieces were as  extraordinary
as the mansions were extravagant!


antique fireplace mantels antique fireplace mantels

  The Breakers, Newport, Rhode Island                 Library Chimneypiece

From the end of the Civil War to the beginning of World War I, the U.S. experienced a spectacular period of growth, change, and opportunity. American energy, expansion, and industrial might were unparalleled in the history of the United States. The urban population grew nearly fivefold in the years 1870-1910, from nine million to fory-two million.

Cultural striving, always present, became the great passion of the period, and the rapid rise of industrial and banking fortunes enabled the newly rich to indulge in a way that had previously not been possible.    Feeling that America was simply not grand enough to match their aspirations for it, many of them roamed the European continent and imported pieces of Euro-
pean history, including lavish antique fireplace mantels, to create a dream-
world of European culture on American soil.


antique fireplace mantels

Since that time, the demand for antique fire-
place mantels has risen and fallen with chang-
ing tastes in architectural styles.   With the trend in recent years toward old world, Euro-
pean inspired fireplaces,
the demand for an-
tique mantels is high once again.





Fortunately, you have a wide range of available period styles from which to choose today.

antique fireplace mantels

From a finely carved English pine mantel with a broken pediment, circa 1720 . . .



antique fireplace mantels

to a 1750 giltwood Rococo chimneypiece with
a marble surround.



antique fireplace mantels

From a large and elegant - albeit simple - Egyptian Revival mantel in Sienna marble,
circa 1820 . . .



antique fireplace mantels

to a striking 1840 carved mahogany chimney-
piece with exquisitely detailed lions' heads.



antique fireplace mantels

From an imposing French Gothic Revival wal-
nut chimneypiece with hooded overmantel, circa 1850 . . .



antique fireplace mantels

to a grand Venetian Baroque carved giltwood and marble surround from the same era.



antique fireplace mantels

From a large hooded Arts and Crafts chim-
neypiece, circa 1850, finely carved in oak . . .



antique fireplace mantels

to a monumental carved oak surround with a sandstone insert, circa 1855.



antique fireplace mantels

From a magnificent late 19th century Palladian carved oak chimneypiece with mirrored over-
mantel . . .



antique fireplace mantels

to a unique 1890 Art Nouveau chimneypiece decorated with marble mosaics and burnished wrought iron work.





antique fireplace mantels

From a superb example of a 1920s English Art Deco fireplace made from polished stainless
steel and three different types of marble . . .



antique fireplace mantels

to a beautifully detailed Italian Art Deco sur-
round of travertine stone inlaid with Sienna marble, circa 1930.




Whether your tastes harken back
to medieval Gothic, 14th to 17th century Renaissance era design, or roaring 20s Art Deco, you have an incredibly wide and varied selection of antique fireplace mantels and surrounds to pick from. In addition to European made chimneypieces, you will find an exciting array of American made examples dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


antique fireplace mantels

NEW! Regal Fireplace Mantel Designs -
Fit For A King...OR A Queen!

Antique Fireplace Mantels Photo Gallery

Antique Fireplaces in the UK

Reproduction Old World Mantels

Reproduction Stone Fireplace Surround Designs

Traditional Stone Fireplace Mantels

Traditional Wood Fireplace Mantels


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