Neoclassical Style Brass Fireplace Companion Set with Horse Head Finials, in the Manner of Maison Jansen. France. Circa 1950.

This elegant polished brass fireplace companion set, conceived in the neoclassical manner and closely related to the production of the celebrated Parisian house Maison Jansen, is distinguished by the exceptional quality of its cast horse head finials. Each of the five tool handles — and the central stand itself — is surmounted by a fully sculptural horse head in cast brass, the animal rendered with considerable anatomical precision: the arching neck, the flared nostril, the alert eye and the suggestion of the flowing mane all captured with the assured hand of a specialist foundry. The equestrian motif, long associated with the prestige productions of Maison Jansen, here achieves a refinement consistent with the finest quality French decorative metalwork of the post-war period.

The set comprises a slender brass stand on a stepped circular base, alongside a poker, a flat-blade shovel, a brush and a pair of tongs, all sharing the same formal vocabulary and polished brass finish. The proportions are tall and elegant, the total height of 68.5 cm giving the set a commanding presence on the fireside hearth.

Maison Jansen, founded in Paris in 1880 by Dutch-born decorator Jean-Henri Jansen, became one of the most celebrated interior design firms of the twentieth century, renowned for its synthesis of historical styles — particularly neoclassical and Empire — with craftsmanship of the highest quality. The horse head motif was among the firm’s most characteristic signatures, appearing on andirons, companion sets and other fireplace accessories across several decades. The present set, though not a direct Jansen production, reflects the widespread diffusion of this vocabulary among high-quality French ateliers working in the firm’s manner during the 1950s.