AFTER A MODEL DESIGNED BY VERBERCKT AND TROUARD WITH MOUNTS BY JACQUES CAFFIÉRI, LATE19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

This splendid fire-surround is a nearly identical replica of the celebrated hearth by Verberckt and Trouard with ormolu mounts by Jacques Caffiéri, supplied in 1747 for the bedchamber of the dauphin at Versailles. The model was often copied in the 19th century, including an example circa 1860 installed at Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, and now part of The Wallace Collection (no. F459).  Another example, dating to 1860, was also installed in the salon d’Apollon at the Tuileries. However, the present fire-surround is set apart from other replicas of the day in its use of rouge griotte marble which is most faithful to the original at Versailles. For a similar fire surround installed in an interior by François Linke see C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 289.