After posting, a couple of days ago, an article about a Neo-Romanian style elevator, which proved very popular, today I am presenting another esoteric Neo-Romanian design artefact: a ceramic tile wood burning stove. It resembles the pedestal of a Neo-Romanian statuary monument, which were often encountered in the 1920s town squares of Romania, depicting heroic war scenes from not logn ago concluded Great War conflagration. Those pedestals had shapes inspired from ancient Greek-Roman altars, commemorating together with the statue, which they supported, the war heroes. The same metaphor of an altar is also encompassed within the shape of this stove, but in this case the meaning is that of the mythical symbolism associated the hearth of a house. The stove through its design and ornamental elements (i.e. the rope motif columns) represents thus a condensed statement of the house’s soul, character and architecture.
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I endeavour through this series of periodic articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.
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If you plan acquiring or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 