Antique Mediterranean Limestone Fireplace

A stone fireplace mantel from the Mediterranean, antique and reclaimed whole, with deep curved corbels under a tiered, projecting shelf. The legs are plain shaped blocks that rise into heavy brackets, and the lintel above them is straight with a softened lower edge. The limestone is pale bone and dove gray, with a smoky patina under the shelf and down the inside of the jambs. Traces of old green pigment and verdigris-toned mineral deposits sit in the molding lines against the matte, unpolished grain.

It measures 64 3/4 inches wide, 21 1/2 inches deep and 61 1/2 inches high; the opening is 41 1/4 inches wide and 54 1/4 inches high. It is an antique fireplace mantel of Mediterranean origin, and we have no closer date for it than that. The tool marks, hairline fissures and chipped edges across the face are stable and part of what you are buying.

A stone fireplace mantel of these proportions suits a formal living room, an open kitchen and living space, or a restored house with tall ceilings. Blackened steel and natural oak draw out the green and smoky shading in the recesses. The mantel is in our yard in Marina Del Rey; come and see it, or ask us for more photographs and a delivered price.