A History of the French Fireplace in England

The early Georgian period saw the emergence of the Rococo-style French fireplace throughout Europe. Rococo was a style of 18^th century French art and interior design, with the word Rococo coming from a combination of the French rocaille (shell) and the Italian barocco, meaning Baroque style. As the name implies, the Rococo style featured curves that resembled a shell.  

The Rococo French fireplace opposed the strict Palladian rules of symmetry, with the fireplace opening featuring beautifully curved strips of marble – the elongated ‘s’ shapes were referred to as serpentine lines. A popular material used for the Rococo surround was a coloured marble named marbre d’ Antin, and this was a mixture of red, yellow and violet, with grey streaks. Overmantel oval mirrors were popular, and in some homes, entire walls and ceilings were extravagantly lined with mirrors – fireplace openings were also given the same treatment. Chimneypieces were often fashioned from carved wood or moulded plaster, and then decorated with a gilded bronze, known as ormolu. Common rococo motifs included flowers, foliage, and ribbons.

In England, Rococo was always known as ‘the French taste’ and the style was often derogatively referred to as frivolous, merely fashion – when the term was first used in England around 1836, it was a colloquialism meaning ‘old-fashioned’. However, the style has been recognised by art historians since the mid-nineteenth century. Rococo fell out of fashion in France in 1785, but remained popular in Italy until the Empire style arrived.

The simplicity of the Adam style was revived during the Victorian era and thus a variety of classical styles came onto the market, all of them attempting to evoke the feelings of classical Rome and Greece. It was the French Empire style that was regarded as being the most chic during the second half of the 19^th century. This simple style used clear rectangular forms and there was an emphasis on small figures, which were often used as ornamental decoration.

In the early Victorian period, most French style fireplaces projected nine inches out from the wall. The front was flat with a wide rectangular opening, and today there is a huge demand for marble fireplaces in this style – originals have been exported from France to all over the world. French fireplaces were generally made by Italian craftsmen, but were decorated and carved by their own artisans. Louis XV surrounds and mantels feature graceful curves in the Rococo style, while the Louis XVI fireplaces are square and masculine. It is the small and feminine Louis XV, which has been the most in demand in modern times – the Louis XVI looked very much like many traditional English designs.