Brass Fireplace Companion Set Surmounted by a Horse Sculpture, French Work, circa 1920

The fireplace companion set — the grouping of poker, brush, shovel, and tongs on a shared stand — has been one of the primary canvases of the decorative metalworker’s art since the seventeenth century, offering a vertical form that invited sculptural treatment at its summit. In the hands of French craftsmen of the Belle Époque and early Art Deco period, these sets could achieve a level of refinement that placed them firmly in the domain of sculptural decoration rather than mere domestic utility.

This companion set in polished brass is distinguished by its finial: a sculpture of a horse, the noblest and most persistently celebrated animal in European decorative art. From the equestrian monuments of antiquity to the bronzes of Barye and the Art Deco figurines of Chiparus, the horse has occupied a privileged position in the French sculptural tradition — an emblem of speed, power, aristocratic lineage, and technical virtuosity. Here it crowns a set of 79 centimetres in height, visible above the mantelpiece and drawing the eye upward with quiet authority.

The brass construction, warm and reflective, gives the set a presence that is at once domestic and distinguished. The proportions — 23 centimetres in width and 16.5 centimetres in depth — are designed for a standard domestic fireplace, where this set would have been used daily while serving as a decorative focal point beside the hearth.

An uncommon example of French decorative metalwork from the early twentieth century, this companion set will lend any fireplace an atmosphere of historical distinction and equestrian elegance.