Dating a fireplace

oceanclub

Bought a Victorian house which has a renovated fireplace in one room but what looks like an original fireplace in the other. But not sure if the marble surround is original. Would appreciate if anyone who knows such things could look at the photo and give their thoughts!

Thanks in advance,

P.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

jefferytibbs

I find them a bit fiery. I like my partners to be more on the submissive side!

Menas

If I was to guess I would say that fireplace was installed in the 1940s. The style looks simpler than what would have been put in when the house was first built.
Looks to me like that marble needs a good scrubbing and oiling. It will look great.

oceanclub

Menas wrote: »

If I was to guess I would say that fireplace was installed in the 1940s. The style looks simpler than what would have been put in when the house was first built.
Looks to me like that marble needs a good scrubbing and oiling. It will look great.

Thanks for that - does the marble part look 1940s while the central bit/ironworks looks original? They did seem out of kilter to my completely uneducated eye....

P.

Menas

oceanclub wrote: »

Thanks for that - does the marble part look 1940s while the central bit/ironworks looks original? They did seem out of kilter to my completely uneducated eye....

P.

I think so. Those sidetiles look 40s too!

oceanclub

Menas wrote: »

I think so. Those sidetiles look 40s too!

Oh, I wondered/hoped they were original. Shame that the originals were gotten rid of (I wonder why - fashion or would they have aged badly by then?)

P

Menas

oceanclub wrote: »

Oh, I wondered/hoped they were original. Shame that the originals were gotten rid of (I wonder why - fashion or would they have aged badly by then?)

P

They could be. I am not that much and expert....to get a proper opinion you would need to take the photo to someone who is an expert on such things. A local friendly auctioneer perhaps?

él statutorio

I'm not an expert, but my family has been in the fireplace business for 40 odd years so I've seen a few in my time.

It's probably not original.

Original Victorian fireplaces tend to be cast iron and the marble ones tend not to last (at least at that size anyway)

Might be an early 1900's addition or could be from the last 20 years. Easiest way would be to check the tile pattern. Again, if they were original I'd expect the tiles to be chipped and cracked. Those tiles look in decent shape so I'd imagine it's 10 - 20 years old.

The only odd thing from a recent fireplace is the lack of a hearth, not sure how any recent-ish installer would've gotten away without putting one in.

Hard to tell exactly without getting my hands on it.

oceanclub

él statutorio wrote: »

I'm not an expert, but my family has been in the fireplace business for 40 odd years so I've seen a few in my time.

It's probably not original.

Original Victorian fireplaces tend to be cast iron and the marble ones tend not to last (at least at that size anyway)

Might be an early 1900's addition or could be from the last 20 years. Easiest way would be to check the tile pattern. Again, if they were original I'd expect the tiles to be chipped and cracked. Those tiles look in decent shape so I'd imagine it's 10 - 20 years old.

The only odd thing from a recent fireplace is the lack of a hearth, not sure how any recent-ish installer would've gotten away without putting one in.

Hard to tell exactly without getting my hands on it.

Thanks - I really doubt it's a recent addition - house in same family almost a century, even the electrics are ancient! (bakelite switches). Is there anywhere I could post the tile patterns to where people might be experts on them? Many thanks,

P.

coylemj

When I saw the thread title I was going to suggest the OP join a lonely hearths club!

Del.Monte

Funny, every time that I see this thread all I can think of is the joke about the 'sexy Texan' but since younger folk look in here....

zimmermania

The fireplace,tiles and surround are totally original and the hearth is original also;a slab of limestone.
The cast iron insert was originally black and would look much better if stipped and given a coat of zebraline or zebrite polish.
Oh by the way I am an expert and if the fireplace was removed there will be a series of marks on the back as a rule that will give the date of manufacture to the year.

oceanclub

zimmermania wrote: »

The fireplace,tiles and surround are totally original and the hearth is original also;a slab of limestone.
The cast iron insert was originally black and would look much better if stipped and given a coat of zebraline or zebrite polish.
Oh by the way I am an expert and if the fireplace was removed there will be a series of marks on the back as a rule that will give the date of manufacture to the year.

Thank you! Is there a way to tell hearths of that age? (We had felt sure the rest was original but thought the marble surround was from later one). Would there be hidden markings on the marble surround too or just on the fireplace?

Thanks for the help

P

zimmermania

oceanclub wrote: »

Thank you! Is there a way to tell hearths of that age? (We had felt sure the rest was original but thought the marble surround was from later one). Would there be hidden markings on the marble surround too or just on the fireplace?

Thanks for the help

P

No marks on the marble surround and it is not particularly attractive (usually found in one of the lesser rooms). No way to tell the age of the hearth stone but if one looks closely at the edges it will be evident it was hand cut.(tiny little chip marks all along the edges. The fireplace is nothing to get excited about except if in a good house buyers like the original fixtures to be there. If in Britain one could buy a similar fireplace for 600 -800 and pay a couple of hundred to have it installed. In Ireland a bit more.