AROUND HOME : Notes on Fireplace Equipment, Dhurrie Rugs and Mirrors : Antique Hearth Equipment
A TRADITIONAL, aesthetic and nostalgic center of American domestic life, the hearth was built into furnaced homes and steam-heated apartments until the advent of prefabricated housing for veterans of World War II. Over the centuries, countless gadgets have been sold to tend and augment the hearth. Now that fireplaces are back in fashion, so are authentic period accessories.
Wilshire Fireplace Shops offers a breathtaking collection of antiques, such as an ornate 1830s brass inglenook with L-shaped chimney banquettes, two bronze lions with velvet seats on their heads, Georgia brass-and-leather hearth benches, and a 16th-Century wine-warming rack with andirons.
There are etched glass and brass peacock fan fire screens; curved, scalloped and serpentine fenders; a 17th-Century green onyx fender with irons; Deco dachshund firedogs. Unique andirons include Victorian figurines (bronze cupids, brass griffins, pewter soldiers), big Eastlake sunflowers, German silver obelisks, plus metal and crystal Deco geometrics and spheres.
Paykel also sells fireplace antiques: massive black lion andirons from a castle; a tall, fluted, silver-plated pair with matching fender; an arched, chrome-banded Deco screen; a pierced brass fan with ormolu; rare satyr fireplace masques; fancy damper hooks; unusual tools and scuttles.
The Fireplace Man sells Victorian skirt guards--narrow brass screens to protect long dresses. Off the Wall sells ornate tiled coal grates, iron safety collars for marble mantels and flickering ‘20s “electric” fires.
Period hearth accessories are available at Wilshire Fireplace Shops in Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa, Paykel in Santa Monica, Fireside & Patio Center in San Gabriel, The Fireplace Man in Cerritos, Marshall Galleries in Los Angeles, and Off the Wall in Laguna Beach.
