Pair of gilded and chiselled bronze fireplace chenets France

This pair of particular fireplace chenets was made in France in the nineteenth century in a Renaissance style that was back very fashionable at the time.
Each wing is in gilded bronze and finely chiselled, turned in different orders creating grooved roundish elements. On the top there is a woman’s head element with multiple faces. The base is tripartite and at the expense of both the angular and the sides are chiselled in bas-relief of the Renaissance masks with some reminiscence of the African and oceanic masks that had recently arrived in the European continent arousing interest and curiosity.
The fireplace chenets are equipped with a wrought iron support.
The fireplace chenets were used in chimneys to help burn the fire better, raising it compared to the base of the chimney itself. The primary purpose of the wings is therefore to raise the fire and the relative wood, so that the air can reach it from all sides to make it burn better. While up to the 17th century they were mostly made of iron, from this period they were made of bronze and brass, materials that at the time were expensive and difficult to find.
They can still be used to improve the ventilation of the flames, to prevent the slipping of wood out of the fire and especially to decorate the fireplace. This particular pair of fireplace chenets can also be displayed as a decorative object next to a modern fireplace or above the floor of the fireplace itself or even as a curious overcoat.