Firebacks

Date only firebacks

28 results

  1. 313

    handcross,_nymans 08.jpg
    1150 x 780 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto moulded edging; date top centre within arch.

    Notes: Plain elegant fireback from a late series, probably cast in the south east of England. The crack emanating from the top right corner of the fireback seems to be a weakness on all the recorded examples, and may have caused by thinness of the base board at that point.

    Inscription: 1853

    Manufactured: in 1853 in England.

    Current location: Nymans, Staplefield Road, Handcross, Slaugham, West Sussex, England.

    (part of the National Trust museum group)

  2. 1138

    hartpury,_prestberries.jpg
    864 x 533 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); upper centre, date between shoulders of arch.

    Notes: The numerals have been crudely impressed, probably using a pointed implement.

    Inscription: 1658

    Manufactured: in 1658 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Hartpury, Gloucestershire, England.

  3. 1243

    harvington_hall.jpg
    640 x 595 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, date '1675'.

    Notes: Similar, in size, shape and position of numerals, to a fireback of 1670 but the numerals are from a different stock.

    Inscription: 1675

    Manufactured: in 1675 in England.

    Current location: Harvington Hall, Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire, England.

    (part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham museum group)

  4. 1127

    heathfield,_best demolition 914x762x.jpg
    914 x 762 mm

    Description: Plain rectangle; no edging; top centre, date between two six-pointed stars.

    Notes: Characteristic of the last firebacks cast at Ashburnham Furnace, Sussex. One of a small series of firebacks cast in the early-19th century for farms on the Ashburnham estate.

    Inscription: * 1812 *

    Manufactured: in 1812 at Ashburnham Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

  5. 1232

    hook_1040x570.jpg
    1040 x 570 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; date placed slightly right of centre near top.

    Notes: A similar fireback with slightly different proportions has the same date using the same numerals.

    Inscription: 1679

    Manufactured: in 1679 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

  6. 950

    horsted_keynes,_broadhurst_01a.jpg
    1010 x 740 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); date top centre.

    Notes: The style of the numerals is identical to those seen on another fireback, indicating a common source.

    Inscription: 1658

    Manufactured: in 1658 possibly at Tintern Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of Wales.

    Current location: in private hands, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, England.

  7. 1118

    isleworth,_london road, 03.jpg
    675 x 440 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); initials in top corners; below the initials, a saltire formed of possibly two straight lengths of twisted rope.

    Notes: The saltire is likely to have an apotropaic purpose; the hollows in the risers of the letter 'H' and the end of the left line of the saltire may have been formed by gas bubbles in the molten iron during casting.

    Inscription: N H

    Manufactured: in the early to mid 17th century in England.

    Current location: in private hands, Isleworth, London, England.

  8. 386

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 021.jpg
    920 x 590 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; date placed centrally near top.

    Notes: A similar fireback with slightly different proportions has the same date using the same numerals. Formerly at the Anchor Hotel, Eastbourne, Sussex.

    Inscription: 1679

    Manufactured: in 1679 in the Weald area of England.

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

    Museum number: LH000.910 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

    Citation: Dawson, C., 1903, 'Sussex Iron Work and Pottery', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, pp. 1-54.

  9. 438

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 078a.jpg
    600 x 740 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular with three sided arch; astragal edging; lion rampant crest beaneath a crown; the date split either side of the lion's head.

    Notes: The evenness of the casting, the form of the crown and the lion all suggest that the date is spurious.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 39

    Manufactured: in the early to mid 20th century in England.

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

    (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  10. 532

    petworth_012.jpg
    612 x 628 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped with narrow shoulders; fillet edging; date in individual numerals across arch.

    Notes: A smaller version is different in the spacing of the numerals and the proportions of the plate.

    Inscription: 1658

    Manufactured: in 1658 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/85 (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).