Firebacks

1090 results

  1. 995

    085.jpg
    550 x 680 mm

    Description: Arched; fillet edging; English royal Stuart shield, garter, crown, supporters, 'CS' monogram to left of Garter buckle, and motto on a cartouche; small rose stamp repeated each side of crown; date split each side of top of crown (first part absent in this casting).

    Notes: Although English arms, the design is in a continental style, arched firebacks being typical of Lorraine; the 'CS' monogram is likely to be that of the pattern-maker; a modern copy of a poor casting, hence the incomplete date. For the complete version see no. 994.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: [16 missing] 21 / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / CS / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1621 in England.

    Current location:.

  2. 157

    1944-24-073.jpg
    420 x 685 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with paternost bead edging; figure holding a bow in his left hand and a lyre in his right hand, a quiver suspended from his belt, on an undulating ground with small trees, and suspended swags of drapery above; Arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, and symmetrical flowers and swirled tendrils; initials at bottom centre; on top, symmetrical pattern of swirled leaves and tendrils.

    Notes: The figure is Apollo, personifying the Sun, one of a set of 'Eight Deities' engraved by Hendrick Goltzius (1592), after Polidoro da Caravaggio; the fireback is one of a large group bearing the same initials, which probably denotes the pattern maker. Other groups may have been the work of the same carver or workshop. The execution is rather crude. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the late 17th to early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.73 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  3. 914

    abinger,_goddards.jpg
    1180 x 780 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides) with fillet edging at bottom; cast of a 1598 fireback within a recessed panel, the arch of the original fireback being overlaid with twisted rope and diagonal lengths of rope laid alongside. The original fireback is described as follows: Composite of three elements; central panel has a complex ‘knot’ pattern with a fillet edge; side panel, repeated on either side of the central panel, contains a vase of flowers, possibly stylised thistles, within an arched frame and fillet edge; arched panel above, also with fillet edge, contains the date and inscription; the spandrels of the side panels, and the arched top panel, contain a series of 'bullseye' motifs comprising concentric rings deepening towards the centre.

    Notes: The central fireback measures 795mm wide by 735mm high and is from a different casting to that seen at Linchmere, Sussex (no. 475).

    Inscription: 1598 / IM IB

    Manufactured: in the late 16th to early 17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Goddards, Abinger Common, Abinger, Surrey, England.

  4. 1122

    accrington,_garden street 1020x690.jpg
    1020 x 690 mm

    Description: Plain rectangular plate with cyma reversa, or ogee, moulding on top and sides.

    Notes: A base board without other decoration. Other firebacks may have been cast using it.

    Manufactured: in the 17th century in England.

    Current location: 10 Garden Street, Accrington, Lancashire, England.

  5. 10

    alfriston_clergy house.jpg
    1280 x 540 mm

    Description: Rectangular; rope edging (top and sides); central Tudor royal shield with encircling garter (motto reversed: HONE SOVT QVEY … PEN), separate greyhound and lion supporters, separate crown; a bird, repeated in each top corner, its wings displayed and inverted and its head facing behind and to the left, standing on a scroll; a fleur de lys repeated in the bottom corners; inside the birds is a repeated stamp, half of one similar to a stamp on a fireback in Hastings Museum.

    Notes: The particular form of the Tudor arms and supporters is encountered on other firebacks, as are the distinctive style of fleurs de lys and the birds (probably swans, a Lancastrian icon). The plain scroll upon which the bird is perched suggests that there might have been a painted inscription on it originally and that the stamp had not been made specifically for the decoration of firebacks but was, perhaps, redundant from interior domestic decoration. Formerly at Framfield, East Sussex.

    Arms: Tudor royal (prob. Henry VIII)

    Manufactured: in the early to mid 16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: The Clergy House, Alfriston, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 200044 (part of the National Trust museum group)

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2010, British Cast-Iron Firebacks of the 16th to Mid-18th Centuries (Crawley, Hodgers Books).

  6. 1128

    amerongen,_21 nederstraat 03 460x520x210.jpg
    460 x 520 mm

    Description: Quasi-arched shape with forward-facing 'wings', which splay outwards towards the base; the 'wings' curve to follow the shape of the main panel but curl outwards at the top; central panel with pictorial image of, to the right, a shepherd holding a musical pipe, his right foot upon a log, upon which a dog, to the left, sits holding the shepherd's crook; top centre, a crown, on either side of which, on the curled upper parts of the 'wings', is an inward facing sheep.

    Notes: This small, but unusual, casting was probably cast in an open box mould as the upcast (reverse) side of the casting shows evidence of being sand-treated. Only a very small number of such castings are known. Depth 210mm

    Manufactured: in the late 17th to early 18th century in England.

    Current location: 21 Nederstraat, Amerongen, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Netherlands.

  7. 1133

    amerongen,_21 nederstraat 05 515x770.jpg
    515 x 770 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead on fillet edging; flowers in a gadrooned vase upon a pedestal; arched rectangular border with fillet edging containing flowers descending from a ribbon bow; at the bottom, date; on top, symmetrical swirled foliage.

    Notes: The swirled foliage on top and the proportions of the fireback suggest an English origin.

    Inscription: 1723

    Manufactured: in 1723 in England.

    Current location: 21 Nederstraat, Amerongen, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Netherlands.

  8. 1135

    amerongen,_21 nederstraat 06 495x555.jpg
    495 x 555 mm

    Description: Arched shape; fillet edging; top centre, date; decorative Tudor royal shield, crown, garter (motto clockwise but reversed) and supporters (dragon and greyhound); a rose to the left and a portcullis (grid of 6) to the right side of crown; the supporters stand on a horizontal compartment which, on similar firebacks, often contains the date.

    Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably originally produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the rose and portcullis.

    Inscription: 15 70 / HONY SOYT QVI MAL Y PENSE

    Arms: English royal Tudor

    Manufactured: in 1570 possibly in the Wallonia area of Luxembourg.

    Current location: 21 Nederstraat, Amerongen, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Netherlands.

  9. 1004

    amerongen,_21 nederstraat 800x1140.jpg
    800 x 1140 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with bead edging; arched rectangular border with bead edging; fructal and floral festoons suspended on ribbons with two putti at the top and two on each side; in the left and right bottom corners, the initials 'HH' and 'S' respectively; at the bottom, a central cartouche with date (indistinctly), between floral swags; on top, twin spirals between descending floral festoons.

    Notes: A border panel, without the central pictorial panel.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HH S

    Manufactured: in 1665 in the Siegerland area of Germany.

    Current location: in private hands, Amerongen, Utrecht, Netherlands.

  10. 1212

    amerongen,_21_nederstraat_07_750x1000.jpg
    750 x 1000 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; wickerwork Garden of Holland (Hollandse Tuin) within which is seated a berobed female figure holding a cap of freedom on the end of a long pole; before her is the crowned heraldic lion of the States General of the Netherlands, clutching a sheaf of arrows in its left front paw; above are the words, Pro Patria; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; central cartouche at top, with festoons of fruit, flowers and leaves suspended on each side from ribbons supported by rings; at the bottom, swirled ribbon around an oval compartment bearing the inscription 'L6C'; on top, a central cartouche from which descend a cornucopia on each side of the arch.

    Notes: An overtly patriotic theme with symbols of Dutch nationhood; the inscription at the bottom indicates the style of border; other firebacks with the same inscription have the same border; similar inscriptions (e.g. L7C and L8G) indicate different borders.

    Inscription: PRO PATRIA / L6C

    Manufactured: in the late 17th century in the Siegerland area of Germany.

    Current location: 21 Nederstraat, Amerongen, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Netherlands.