Victorian Fireplace Mantels

Depending on a family’s status, the Victorian fireplace mantel was made from slate, marble, wood or stone. The Victorian era was often referred to as The Battle of the Styles, due to the popularity of the many decorative designs from previous eras. The early and mid-Victorian period favoured the Gothic and Elizabethan styles: the Gothic was linked with the true Christian principles of morality, truthfulness and purity and the Elizabethan era invoked nostalgia for a chivalrous bygone age.

The late Victorian age brought a mixture of styles. In direct contrast to the Georgian, Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, the Victorian era shunned uniformity and had an exuberance that appealed to all. It was customary to decorate mantels with plush velvet pelmets; over-mantels had many shelves and brackets and sometimes the whole mantelpiece was backed with a mirror – plate glass became very popular around this time. The late Victorians particularly loved Jacobean architecture, with its rich profusion of Renaissance and medieval motifs.

The Victorian architect William Burges revelled in the middle ages and he had the privilege of designing the amazing fireplace in the medieval great hall at Cardiff Castle. The stone over-mantle represents Cardiff Castle itself and the Earl of Gloucester is shown riding out to war through the castle gates, to a fanfare of trumpets from the battlements above. The scene was colourfully painted in natural colours.

The degree of ornament on a Victorian fireplace mantel related directly to social class and the social importance of a room. In working-class homes the fireplace was plain, but the over-mantle was very ornamental and made of wood, which was stained or painted.

The industrious middle classes were able to mass-produce designs that would have only been previously available to the wealthy, and thus they had grand fireplaces in the drawing and dining rooms – fireplaces featured in other rooms too, such as bedrooms, but these were on a much smaller scale. The wealthy were lucky enough to be able to choose any elaborate designs that appealed to them.

Marble became too expensive towards the end of the 19^th century, so painted pine and mahogany, slate and cast iron were used for the majority of Victorian fireplace mantels.