Marble masterpiece found at Smethwick pub

?The new owners of a landmark Black Country pub have uncovered an historic marble fireplace during work to freshen up the drinking hole.

Bera Mahli took over The Red Cow, in High Street, Smethwick in May and began a facelift to the function rooms at the back of the building.

During works, Mr Mahli pulled down plaster board on the walls to uncover a giant marble plinth featuring engravings of a half man-half goat.

There are also images from mythology, including nude women and Cupid.

And Mr Mahli has now restored the carvings around the function room in a bid to beef up business.

Mr Mahli, aged 53, said: "We took over in May and we've been doing the function rooms at the back. The previous owners had always had plaster board up on the walls and we took it down to see what we had.

"We found this pure marble chimney space with a half man-half goat with horns on his head, holding a hunting horn in one hand and some kind of champagne glass, or bubbling potion, in the other."

The chimney features the inscription "Mingles with the friendly bowl the feast of reason, flow of discourse, the banquet of the mind".

As Mr Mahli pulled back plaster board around the room, he found more carvings of nude women and a half boy-half goat with a bow and arrow.

David Bryant, aged 79, chairman of Smethwick Heritage Trust, had his wedding reception at The Red Cow and thought the carvings could date back to when it was first built in 1930.

As part of the pub's revamp, Mr Mahli also confirmed he would milk the pub's history by replacing the iconic red metal cow on a plinth outside the pub.

"It's going to be a lot bigger than it used to be, it will be full size," he said. The cow toppled and shattered during a storm in 2008.