mantelshelf

plural mantelshelves

1. A shelf above a fireplace.

   On the mantelshelf either side of the clock stood two lacquered bronzes of horse and tamer.

   1998, Derek Beaven, chapter 9, in Acts of Mutiny, London: Fourth Estate, →ISBN, part 1 (Motion), page 34

   1 more example

   Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

2. climbingSynonym of mantel (“a type of maneuver to surmount a ledge”).

   Synonyms: mantel