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A Griotte marble chimney piece, English in the Louis XV style, circa 1850.The serpentine shaped, moulded marble shelf with outset rounded
corners above a shaped and incised, panelled frieze centred by a richly carved acanthus leaf surrounded by foliage, flower-heads and ivy leaves, the compound moulded opening with serpentine shaped tops terminating in leaf carved scrolls, the moulded and panelled jambs in the form of volutes, headed by leaf carved scrolls above trailing husks, terminating in acanthus leaf scrolls and raised on squared and chamfered block bases. This chimney piece is carved from Belloc-Griotto marble quarried near Villefranche-de-Conflet in the Eastern Pyrenees of France. This dramatic marble is similar to Griotte Rouge from Belgium and was used throughout the 18th and 19th centuries for decorative interior work, including chimney pieces at Versailles, until the quarry was exhausted and closed.
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