Antique Chenets
Chenets are the pair of standing metal supports that sit on a hearth and hold burning logs clear of the floor so air can reach them.
What Are Chenets?
Chenet is the French word for what English titles call an andiron or a fire dog, and all three names are in use on Sellingantiques at once: chenet in 29 of 86 titles, andirons in 27, fire dogs in 23. Eleven titles use two of the names in the same breath.
The version you'll meet most often is a French 19th-century pair in gilt bronze or ormolu. Three quarters of titles say 'pair' (65 of 86), which makes singles the oddity. Bronze appears in 28 titles, ormolu in 26, brass in 21, with iron and steel behind them.
Figural casting runs through the upper part of the range. Cherubs and putti are the commonest subject, joined by rampant lions, a griffin and, once, a phoenix. Rococo and the Louis court styles are named in a scattering of titles. The plain end is turned brass or steel dogs in English idiom, described as Victorian, Georgian or Regency.
About one in nine titles sells the chenets mounted on or with an adjustable fender, several of them extending in width. Dates that are given run 1800 to 1920, and the largest single group, 22 listings, says only '19th Century'. The decades that are named cluster late: 1880s, 1900s, 1890s. Only four listings reach back into the 18th century.
Where The Range Splits
Material sets the floor and the ceiling. Ormolu and gilt bronze sit at the top of the range, plain brass and steel dogs at the bottom, and several titles pair 'bronze & ormolu' to describe gilded and patinated surfaces on the same piece. Iron work is a small minority throughout.
Modelling does the rest of the lifting. A cast figure, a putto, a lion, a griffin, puts a pair well above unmodelled turned dogs of the same metal, and a named court style behind the ornament, Louis XIV through Louis XVI, Baroque, Renaissance, does the same. The plainest listings name no style at all.
Scale and completeness both count. 'Large' turns up in ten titles, with the sampled wording running to 'enormous and heavy' and 'large-scale', and chenets supplied with an adjustable or extending fender sit above bare dogs. Italian bronze is the rarest origin named, and the largest and highest-priced sampled pieces were Italian.
Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for chenets, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
French is the origin named most often for chenets on Sellingantiques. Italian bronze is the rarest named.
The Antique Chenets Glossary
- Chenet
- The French name for an andiron, used in about a third of titles here and often set alongside the English word in the same line.
- Andiron
- The English name for the same object, a standing support with an ornamental front and a bar running back into the hearth.
- Fire dog
- The everyday English synonym, and the term that dominates current stock titles on Sellingantiques.
- Ormolu
- Gilded bronze, named in a little under a third of titles and the usual material at the top of the range.
- Billet bar
- The plain horizontal bar behind the ornamental standard, the part the logs actually rest on.
- Parcel gilt
- Partly gilded, with the rest of the surface left as patinated bronze.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are chenets and andirons the same thing?
Yes. Chenet is the French term, andiron the English one, and fire dog the everyday version of the English.
All three appear in titles on Sellingantiques, and eleven titles use two of the names together, so the same object can be listed under any of them.
Do chenets usually come as pairs?
Three quarters of titles in this archive contain the word 'pair', 65 of 86. A hearth needs two, one at each end of the logs.
Singles and fender-mounted sets are the genuine oddities of the category.
What are antique chenets made from?
Bronze and ormolu lead the field, with brass close behind and iron and steel in a smaller group. Several titles describe bronze and ormolu together, gilded standards against patinated castings.
At the plain end you'll find turned brass or steel dogs with no gilding at all.
How old are the chenets that come to market?
Of the listings that carry a clean year, all fall between 1800 and 1920. Nothing is dated outside that span.
The named decades cluster in the late 19th century, with the 1880s, 1890s and 1900s well ahead of the rest. Only four listings reach into the 18th century.
What figures are cast on the ornamental standards?
Cherubs and putti are the commonest subject in this archive, appearing across the figural work.
Beyond them the casting runs to rampant lions, a griffin and a single phoenix. Rococo scrollwork and the Louis court styles are named on others.
Why are some chenets sold with a fender?
About one in nine titles sells the chenets as part of a fender rather than as free-standing dogs, the standards linked by a bar that runs across the front of the hearth.
Several of these are described as adjustable or extending in width, so the same set can be fitted to different fireplace openings.