Object Description
This elegant gilt bronze (ormolu) fireplace fender was created in France in the late 19th Century. The item will add splendour and beauty to a fireplace, making it the focal point of a room.
The fender features a pierced rail which is decorated with a central cartouche, flanked by stylised acanthus leaves. The ends of the fender are topped by full-length, semi-nude figures. These include a beautiful young woman and a bearded male, holding a blacksmith’s hammer. The latter can be identified as Hephaestus (or Vulcan), the classical god of fire—a figure well-suited to decorating a fireplace. The woman may be Aphrodite (or Venus), Hephaestus’s wife. These figures recline on seats which are adorned with stylised scrolling acanthus leaves.