Firebacks

990mm wide

  1. 811

    broseley_01a.jpg
    990 x 640 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and canting only); centre top, date (written as 1018); below to left and right, initials.

    Notes: It has been suggested that the initials IR relate to King James I but the lack of any other royal decoration makes this unlikely.

    Inscription: 1618 / IR IR

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Shropshire area of England.

    Current location: 50, Church Street, Broseley, Shropshire, England.

    Citation: Calcutt, V., Autumn 2021, 'Cast iron fire-back from East Shropshire', Base Thoughts, Newsletter of the Antique Metalware Society, p. 10.

    Citation: Callcut, V., Nov 2004, 'Shirlot (or Shirlett?) Hearth Iron', Newsletter of the Broseley Local History Society, pp. 8-9.

    Citation: Randall, J., 1879, Broseley and its Surroundings (Madeley, The Salopian and West-Midland Journal), pp. 98-99.

  2. 1019

    gildings_19 apr 2016 lot 529 990x620.jpg
    990 x 620 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; top centre and corners, stamp formed of three ostrich feathers within a coronet, repeated three times.

    Notes: The ostrich feathers are the badge of the Prince of Wales; a recast plate. Gildings Auctioneers, Market Harborough, 19 Apr 2016 lot 529.

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

    Current location:, not known.

  3. 974

    sheffield,_bishops house 02.jpg
    990 x 962 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape on a plain plinth; scalloped cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides); initials in triad within arch; date split in top corners; unidentified stamp top centre; hound stamp above letter 'R', stag stamp above letter 'A'; annulet stamp repeated inside each half of the date; flat scrolled protuberance on each side of arch; smaller protuberance above each shoulder.

    Notes: The initials are likely to be those of a husband and wife, the stag and hound possibly associated with the husband's occupation. The protuberances are seen in different forms on few firebacks of the same period.

    Inscription: RHA / 16 66

    Manufactured: in 1666 in England.

    Current location: Bishop's House, Norton Lees Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.

    (part of the Museums Sheffield museum group)

  4. 780

    west_hoathly, priest house 01.jpg
    990 x 665 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top corners, initials in separate stamps arranged in triad with ‘WR’ above ‘E’; top centre, date on single block overstamped.

    Notes: It is somewhat puzzling why a furnace should have a stock of letters but not of numerals. The use of a block for the date suggests that other firebacks may bear the same stamp.

    Inscription: WER [triad] 1632 WER [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1632 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Priest House, West Hoathly, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.233 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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