For stealing fire from the gods and sharing it with mortals, Prometheus was famously punished by having his liver subjected to daily pecking by a ravenous eagle. Less well known, perhaps, was Zeus’ poetically appropriate final stroke: He sentenced poor Prometheus to display on his hearth for eternity a set of boring, cut-rate fireplace tools and one of those cheap mesh fireplace screens that never really closed right and burned his hands when he touched it.
The gods, thankfully, have been more merciful to us. Hearth accessories – screens, tool sets and log holders – now come in a variety of styles that represent a vast improvement on the utilitarian versions of yore.
According to the Hearth, Patio &Barbecue Association, Americans spent $5 billion last year on new fireplaces, free-standing stoves and related products. In the age of central heating, such a figure suggests there’s far more at stake here than just keeping warm in wintertime. The fireplace now offers yet another opportunity for the expression of personal taste – and as the focal point of almost every living room it graces, all eyes are upon it, especially when it’s roaring with flames on a chilly evening.
Here are some accessories we’ve discovered that lift the age-old curse of dullness and sameness. Whether your fireplace cries out for a traditional or contemporary treatment, you’ll find in these products a refreshing design sensibility that will have people admiring your hearth year-round.
Tool sets
* Stoke your coals in prairie style with Target’s sleek – and affordable – Frank Lloyd Wright fireplace tools. They add an instant touch of iconic American design to even the plainest hearthside setting. $89.99. Available at Target stores or at www.target.com.
* The powder-coated harvest five-piece tool set from Forge &Flower, an online wrought iron superstore, is marked by a black, dramatically sinuous frame. $129.95. Available at shop.store.yahoo.com/forgeandflower/.
* From Blomus, the German manufacturer of high-end stainless steel furnishings and accessories, comes a futuristic five-piece set with streamlined tools and a semi-opaque glass back. $299.95. Available at www.hartshearth.com.
Screens
* The hand-forged rustic iron fire screen from Wisteria rounds up a menagerie of farm animals – cows, sheep, roosters, pigs and more – to make a functional barrier that doubles as a quaint piece of fireplace folk art. $149. Available at www.wisteria.com, or call 800-320-9757.
* Pilgrim’s grand oak three-panel screen, in the matte black finish, puts us in mind of the great Arts and Crafts designs of brothers Charles and Henry Greene. $222. Available at www.woodlanddirect.com.
Log holders
* With a great-looking storage solution as reasonably priced as a polished brass and gun-metal filigree wood holder, you really have no excuse for stacking extra logs on the living room floor ever again. $54. Available at www.woodlanddirect.com.
* Restoration Hardware’s clean-lined, elegantly proportioned log holder, from its Mission Hearth collection, is made of powder-coated steel; we like its combination of sturdiness and sophistication. $129. Available at all Restoration Hardware stores or at www.restorationhardware. com.
* Nikolas Piper, a German furniture designer now living in Spain, traded a career in advertising for a life spent bending metal into beautiful shapes – including a hand-molded wrought iron wood basket with a patina finish. About $570, not including shipping. Available at www.niksproject. com.
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