Impressive pair of bronze and finely chiseled and gilded andirons, Venice, first half of the 19th century, Baroque style

Impressive pair of bronze and finely chiseled and gilded andirons, Venice, first half of the 19th century, Baroque style. Measurements: cm H 80 x W 43 x D 27 Price: private negotiation Item accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. This impressive pair of finely chiseled and gilded bronze andirons was made in Italy in Venice in the first half of the 19th century in the Baroque style and are very similar to a famous pair of Venetian-made burnished bronze andirons kept at the Bargello Museum in Florence. The articulated structure of each andiron, symmetrical to the other, consists of three portions. The base, shifted forward with respect to the architectural layout of the whole, is composed of openwork curvilinear elements with volutes, a central shield, and a mask with a lion's head from which two garlands depart. On the sides sit two winged putti who turn their dreamy gazes upward. Above the lion's head, on a small base, rests a large triangular-based element with wavy and curvilinear profiles outlined by large volutes. The profiles are enriched by three figures of fauns worked in high relief who sit showing their characteristic goat legs and feet, while their arms are transformed into vegetal elements that converge into a palmette fan in bas-relief, placed in the recessed area at the center of the figures. Also in the center stands, in bas-relief, the head of a woman, probably the goddess Ceres, whose soft hair falls laterally, coming out of the chin strap. In the upper portion, on a triangular base surrounded by an egg-and-dart frame, a full-round sculpture of a cherub, or Cupid, with wings, quiver, and arms raised as if ready to shoot the arrow of love, crowns the whole. This pair of andirons of fine quality and considerable technical commitment in the realization, thanks to the remarkable dimensions and the stylistic grace of the whole, is very decorative and of great scenic effect. It can be displayed as a decorative object next to an antique or modern fireplace, on top of the fireplace itself, or even as a precious piece of furniture. Bibliography: Decorative Bronzes In Italy. Italian Bronze Workers And Founders From The Seventeenth To The Nineteenth Century, by Enrico Colle, Electa, 2001