Fireplace surround and insert

The Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio, once located on East 142nd Street in the Bronx, was the nexus of American stone sculpture production between 1893 and 1946. The six Italian immigrant brothers carved monuments and independent works for leading American sculptors, among them Daniel Chester French’s Seated Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. This fireplace surround was installed in a private ground-floor space in the studio complex, where family, studio assistants, and friends gathered for meals and fellowship. The Brothers collaborated on the design and production of this object, which mediates between their professional practice and domestic lives, between decorative and utilitarian intent, and between classicizing and personalized ornamentation. Two semi-draped putti with upraised arms support a frieze with birds and floral decoration; a central scrollwork cartouche is inscribed PB for Piccirilli Brothers.