Brass and Lacquered Metal Fireplace Tools on Stand with Duck Decoration

In the well-dressed French fireplace, the nécessaire de feu — the complete set of tools comprising stand, poker, tongs, brush, and shovel — is as much a decorative statement as a practical provision. Like the fireplace screen and the andirons, it contributes to the overall composition of the hearth, and in the finest examples it declares a particular personality: the severity of polished steel, the aristocratic warmth of bronze, or — as in this charming example from around 1970 — the cheerful wit of the hunting-lodge aesthetic.

This set, in brass and lacquered metal, belongs to the French tradition of the country-house accessory: objects conceived for the maison de chasse or the provincial manoir, where the pleasures of the table, the field, and the fire are celebrated with equal enthusiasm. The duck motif — rendered in brass and lacquered metal with the colourful naturalism typical of the period — animates the handles, the stand, or the finials of the tools with the vivacity of the living bird, bringing the marshland and the autumn hunt into the warmth of the interior.

The combination of brass and lacquered metal — the warm gold of the one against the painted colour of the other — was a favoured solution for French decorative metalwork of the 1960s and 1970s that sought polychrome interest without recourse to more precious materials. At 71.5 cm tall with a 22 cm square base, the set has the presence and scale of a well-designed floor accessory, and pairs naturally with the duck-themed fireplace screen from the same period.

In very good condition. A charming and complete fireplace tool set in the French hunting tradition, the perfect complement to a country interior or an urban salon with a taste for the pastoral.