Stock No: 13461

A rare Reformed Gothic Chimneypiece carved in the richly coloured and veined Ashburton Marble mined from the Linhay Quarry in Devon, England close to the ancient Stannary Town of Ashburton.

The chimneypiece is surmounted by a large stepped, corbelled shelf centred by a demi lune podium undercarved with Gothic detail. The formal stylised stiff foliage climbing the sturdy chamfered jambs, echoed around the arched opening and on the undercarving of the shelf, blossoms at the top under each shaped shelf into a more natutralistic Gothic display.
English, circa 1880.

Notes: In 1852 The Western Times, a Devon newspaper, reported that some large blocks of marble had been excavated from quarries adjoining the ancient Stannary Town of Ashburton. It was suggested at the time that the marble be used for the making of chimneypieces as the veins and colour were considered very decorative and superior to that found in any other quarry in South Devon. The Linhay Quarry was still being mined into the late 20th century.

King Edward I's Stannary Charter of 1305 had established Tavistock, Ashburton and Chagford as Devon's Stannary Towns, they were where locally mined refined tin was assessed, coined, and sold.

Link to: Antique Renaissance, Gothic Tudor Fireplace mantels and Chimneypieces: 1260 - 1600