FRANCOIS AND CO. OFFERS HAND-CARVED HEARTHSIDE MANTELS, USING THE FINEST CUTS OF NEWLY QUARRIED FRENCH LIMESTONE. Once a mass of tiny sea creatures, then ancient seabed, and after millions of years, petrified into a mountainside—our newly quarried French limestone is broken up into slabs, cut into smaller blocks, and hand-carved into the fireplace mantel of your choice. French limestone is diverse in color-range—with popular colors ranging from soft creams to beige, from earth tones to greys and black.
MARBLE
EUROPEANS HAVE BEEN CARVING MARBLE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. IN ANCIENT TIMES, THE GREEKS AND ROMANS CHOSE MARBLE FOR THEIR STRUCTURES DUE TO ITS BEAUTY. Many of the marble names we know today originated from the quarry in which they were found; Carrara (Italy), Pentelicus (Greece), Proconnesus (Turkey). Marble colors vary due to different minerals that are present in the stone but is usually a light-colored rock when it is formed from limestone with few impurities. All our custom mantels are hand-carved from the finest marble available. White Carrara marble is prevalent in sculptures due to its softness and relative resistance to shattering. Due to the low index of refraction, it allows light to penetrate into the stone before the light is scattered out, giving the sculpture a life-like appearance.
