Found in a sorry state, I'm slowly but surely cleaning it up, and hoping to bring it back to life.
Its bizarrely covered in a horrible oily, sticky substance, and to add to the fun, newspaper!
I was wondering if it was an attempt to preserve in some way, after it had been taken out of the wall, as the newspapers are fairly recent.
But I knew there was a gem underneath the muck, and after removing some of the gunk, fabulous decorative details started to emerge.
And after taking out one of the loose tiles down the side, I found that they are made by probably one of the most famous ceramic factories of all time: Mintons.
A nice surprise that adds to the already interestingly mysterious history of this fireplace.
I've dated it to the Victorian era, but I admit that is a bit vague!
The style of the surround and the tiles suggest it, but now you can see some of the details, it could actually be something a bit more unusual.
Possibly Arts & Crafts, as it has the flowers decorations, or even from the Aesthetic Movement period??
Both of which would roughly place them in the 1880s onwards era.
Or it could also be early 1900s Edwardian??!
All a bit of a mystery!
I'll carry on cleaning off the muck, and one day it will be on sale ready for a new home ...
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