I think lower (second pic) and further to the right (don't think it's big enough to center in that space...move his left thumb about where the cuff of hubbie's right sleeve is. The boat will then look like it is sailing instead of suspended mid air.

It's gorgeous, but it's not large enough to serve as the centerpiece for that space.

Also wanted to ask if you've had any unusual things happen in your house? Unexplained sounds, things moving by themselves, lights going on and off by themselves, etc. The age of the home along with a couple of very distinct orbs you captured in your top pic leads me to think you might have a spirit or two there!

If you decide to keep the piece, I'd get a set of fireplace tools to place on the right, wider space. That will fill in the space and balance with the fireplace. Ue the lower position (when hubby was holding it) and have the top point of the sailboat either centered on the wall or slightly to the left of center.

I think the boat needs to be sitting on something. It looks like it is floating in the air.

I think you need to get a carpenter to make a "cradle" for the piece of sculpture and extend the length of the cradle on both sides proportionally to the art. That way you needn't ruin the wall and it would have the height and width that it needs to hold it's own. Suspending it seems to me to be in conflict with the piece. It's a lovely piece, may I ask the name of the artist? As a collector myself, I understand your desire to display it correctly and floating just doesn't feel right.

Very cool piece of art! Go to Homegoods and find a picture with a cool frame that would complement the art piece. Take picture out of frame. Hang empty frame around art piece. Presto change gallery wall!

Thanks for all the responses. Before I bought the piece I did a mock up and it seemed OK then. Now it seems too small and floating. I will give it more thought. My husband thinks we should get something else to add to the wall/space.

Hilltop - thanks for the mock up! I'm so impressed that you could do it so fast and well! I have an extra set (or two) of fp tools that I was going to give on freecycle but I could use it here instead. The house now has 11 fp and I have a lot of extra "stuff" for them.

yayagal - The artist Rock Richardson from New Mexico normally does nudes but our local shop carried this piece. Rock's website is linked below. Also some of his other pieces are on a stand - this one though was hanging on the wall.

blondepegasus - we've been in the house for 13 years and believe it has good karma. The original owner lived past 100 and we bought it as an estate sale where the owner lived into his late 90's. This is our "forever" house. I have a few interesting stories. This house has been wonderful to us.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pewter by Rock

I would move the turtles, hang one of your large framed maps over the fireplace and have the sailboat sculpture mounted on a base so that it could sit on the mantel off to one side.

Can you contact the art and see if they could make a pewter picture frame?

I had orbs like that when I first took pics of my bathroom then I cleaned the camera lens. I love the boat but I think I would rest it on the mantel.

CLBlakey - it's true that some orbs such as these are merely the result of dust on the lense. The ones to take special note of are the ones with a lighter ring on the outside like this large one. A dust orb will be one dimensional. The other worldly kind will emit a brighter ring of light inside or outside.

BostonPam - Would love to hear a story or two! We live in my deceased grandma's house and she lets us know she is here in a variety of ways.

Love your moldings are they original to house?

How about several short( but longer than the boat)dark stained shelves stagered above the fire place with the boat on the highest one and set off to the side. The added height and boat and the shelves being stagered would bring the eye up and balance the dark uncentered fireplace.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think we my sit/mount it on the mantel. My worry with teenagers - the boat may be knocked off. We may "hang" it but at mantel level so less likely to fall off.

nyboy - we believe the mouldings are original to the house. When I was investigating on what to use for our new main staircase I would invite myself into similar era homes in the neighborhood. (I would ring stranger doorbells asking to see their balusters! Everyone said yes) I also checked out many old books from the library printed in the late 1700's and early 1800's (fascinating). Our room mouldings are most similar to the Gore Estate in Waltham MA. You can't see it but most windows are paneled too. During our renovations I had DH strip one window to see if we could go back to natural woodwork. Unfortunately it was a few different types of wood and was always meant to be painted :(

Hahaha! Your concern about the pieces on the mantel brought back a memory for me. When I was growing up, in the dining room we had a beautiful antique glass front cabinet. It was so unusual as the glass in the side doors was actually curved in an S shape...not in a half circle like most of them are. Gorgeous. Of course, it was very near where we rough-housed all the time. The mantra always became, "Watch the china cabinet!!!" As brother and I were shoving and slapping each other around, we be yelling at each other, "Watch the china cabinet!"

Somehow it survived us..