For your fireplace envision a unique hand carved Mantel

The eagle carving above is based on the design of a nineteenth century wooden ship sternboard, the original of which was 20 feet wide. The carving on the mantle was reduced in size, but remains faithful to the style of the historic piece.

Hand carved mantlepieces can be solid, as is this black-cherry example, or can be built up from a carved panel to create an assembled box type construction. The problem with solid mantels is finding suitable kiln dried material to work from. The kiln drying process often causes severe cracks or checks in wood when the thickness exceeds 2 inches.