Neoclassical Brass and Wire Mesh Fireplace Screen, Mandolin and Floral Mounts, Marked MS

An elegant single-panel fireplace screen in the Neoclassical style, executed in polished brass and fine wire mesh and bearing the intaglio mark “MS”—likely the signature of a French decorative workshop. The screen is notable for the quality of its applied brass ornament: at the centre of the mesh panel, a finely cast brass appliqué depicts a mandolin with a bouquet of flowers, combining the musical and pastoral motifs beloved of the Louis XVI and Directoire decorative traditions.

The framework of polished brass encloses the dark steel mesh on all four sides, the top rail gently curved and the lower corners fitted with characteristic horse-hoof feet (pieds en sabot de cheval)—an ornamental foot form widely used in late-18th-century French furniture and metalwork, here transposed to fireplace accessories with refined effect. The screen’s proportions—wide and square—are well suited to a generous fireplace opening.

The mandolin motif enjoyed particular favour in Neoclassical decorative arts from the mid-18th century onward, associated with the pastoral idyll of Arcadia and the refinement of salon culture. Combined with a bouquet of flowers—a perennial symbol of nature, beauty, and feminine grace—these motifs place the screen firmly within the tradition of French Louis XVI style metalwork, which consistently drew on the imagery of music, the outdoors, and classical antiquity.

A charming and decorative piece in good condition, combining practical spark protection with genuine artistic refinement.