Continental, late 19th/early 20th century

Sotheby's London, STONE including Property from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, 4th December 2019, lot 91 (sold for £20,000)

The unusual yet impressive design of this fireplace recalls the enormous 'Hell Mouth' created for Vicino Orsini between 1550 and 1584 in the Parco dei Mostri, Bomarzo. The grotesque mask was a popular form used in Italy as early as the late 16th century as can been seen at The Palazzo Zuccari, in Rome, featuring a front door and two windows surrounded by an imposing face with furrowed brows. The gaping mouth of a huge monster representing the entrance to Hell, two further examples stand in the Villa Torre in Fumane and another in the gardens of the Villa Aldobrandini, near Frascati. An example with identical design was sold Christie's London, 3 September 2014, lot 141 (£16,250). The taste for this type of fireplaces also spread across time and place as an example of similar spirit is in the Parisian apartment of the French dealer Pierre Passebon, designed by Jacques Grange, his collection sold Sotheby's Paris, 21-22 November 2017.