This Eastern white pine carved mantel creates a cap over the top of a stone hearth surround for a fireplace insert. The original mantel cap had been an afterthought, a slab of waney-edged wood and the clients wanted something more visually interesting and decorative while maintaining the shelf-like functionality of the original.

We explored a number of carving motifs during the design process and settled on a pattern mirrored across the left/right centerline and repeated on-module for the entire width of the face. The same pattern occurs on the ends, where the mantel returns to the wall.

A linseed oil based wiping varnish applied to a modest build highlights the natural grain and color of the wood while providing an appropriate level of clean-ability.