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Theory Of Decoration

The opening was often from five to seven feet high, and about the same width. The lintel above the opening was decorated with wreaths, coats of arms, or other ornaments of the period. Occasionally the hood was lacking, and there was a shelf wide enough to hold ornaments of some size. Toward the end of the period French influence became very strong, and mantels were designed in imitation of French types.

The French mantels of the early Renaissance were very elaborate, and differ from the Italian in that the tapering hood was replaced by a rectangular coffer, as the French felt that the sloping lines of the hood were not in harmony with the taste of the period. These coffers were richly decorated, trophies, human figures, coats of arms, scrolls, wreaths and fantastic beasts being among the motifs used. In the Louis XIV period mantels became simpler, and we find for the first time the type of mantel now in general use, whose essential characteristic is the frame around the fireplace opening.

The mouldings of the frame were usually very bold, a characteristic that disappeared in later times. Overmantels still had very narrow shelves, but were decorated in the style of the period, with allegorical or pastoral scenes, scrolls and festoons, and all the types of ornament found in other interior features of the time. Under Louis XV and XVI the overmantel became a flat panel against the wall, with a mirror, painting, or other decoration, and we find the modern small mantel, with its wide shelf, fully developed. The mantels of course were decorated in the styles of the period, the Louis XV types having flowing lines, while the Louis XVI were more classic and rectangular. Nearly all French mantels of these later periods are of marble, often with iron linings, richly decorated, and marble front hearths, usually panelled in two colors. It may be noted that in the early French mantels, built of stone or plaster, and usually painted in colors, the decoration was extremely rich. In the later periods marble was used, and the ornament was simplified to allow the beauty of the material to be more apparent. Empire mantels were similar in their general lines to the Louis XVI, but instead of carved ornament they had applied ornaments of gilt bronze, like the furniture produced at the same time.

In England the progress of mantel design followed that in France, though often influenced by Dutch and German taste. The Elizabethan and Jacobean examples were large and elaborate, of carved oak, stone or plaster, often painted in colors, with strapwork ornament, coats of arms, and other characteristic early Renaissance features.