Echinus

Masters in Hand Carved and Cast Stone 

A finely proportioned fire surround featuring a 'meander' over Ionic three-quarter size columns.  A meander or meandros - also called the Greek fret or Greek key design - is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line shaped into a repeated motif.

The name meander recalls the twisting and turning path of the Maeander River in Asia Minor but also, as Karl Kerenyi pointed out, "the meander is the figure of a labyrinth in linear form".

Meanders are common decorative elements in Greek and Roman art. In ancient Greece they appear in many architectural friezes, and in bands on the pottery of ancient Greece from the Geometric Period onwards.  They were among the most important symbols in ancient Greece; and are thought to symbolise infinity and unity.