Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; image of two helmeted men in 17th century dress, on a ground, carrying a huge bunch of grapes slung from a pole between them, behind are vine leaves; the initials located below the top corners; arched rectangular border, fillet edging, containing vine leaves and grapes; above, symmetrical swirling foliage descending from a scallop shell; bottom of the image obscured by corrosion damage.

Notes: The scene, drawn from the Old Testament, represents Joshua and Caleb carrying the bunch of grapes from the valley of Eshcol in the land of Canaan, back to Moses and the children of Israel (Numbers 13: 23-4); a popular subject on a variety of media in the period.

Inscription: I N

Description: Fragment; rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); six stamps, in two columns of three, taking the form of a long-pointed arrow head within a circlet of small curls.

Notes: The stamps are of an unfamiliar type with some similarity to the heraldic symbol for ermine. Because only the left part of the fireback has survived it is not known how many original columns of this stamp there were.

Description: Arched rectangular shape with arch on top; rebated fillet edging; below mirrored putti holding crossed fronds, the figure of St George slaying the dragon; on each side a flame-topped column.

Notes: The central panel of what would otherwise have been a typical bordered fireback intended for the Dutch market.

Description: Rectangular shape with ovolo-moulded edging; within the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, a central shield of the arms of Spain: quarterly Castile and Leon, Aragon and Aragon-Sicily, with an escutcheon of Portugal; in base Austria, Burgundy ancient, Burgundy modern and Brabant with an escutcheon of Flanders impaling Tyrol; above, a crown; supporters: two golden lions rampant; below the shield, the date, 1595; above the crown, the inscription: Dominus mihi adiutor (the Lord is my helper).

Notes: The arms of King Philip II of Spain following the unification with Portugal, as used in the Spanish Netherlands. Part of the bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Lieut. Colonel G. B. Croft-Lyons in 1926.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: DOMINVS MIHI ADIVTOR

Arms: King Philip II of Spain (Spanish Netherlands)

Description: 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 circular motifs comprising concentric rings deepening towards the centre.

Notes: ‘Knot’ patterns were popular in gardens of the period. The garden theme is continued with the side panels. An example of the same design, noted at Linchmere, West Sussex, is a different casting, the top panel with the date and initials being slightly askew. From a photograph in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; photographed at Mapesbury House, Willesden in 1904.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1598 / IM IB

Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shape, semi-circular protrusions on top corners; cavetto-moulded edging looped at top; two mirrored scrolls inside arch; a phoenix in flames, its wings displayed and inverted; date, in two parts, in top corners; initials in bottom right corner.

Notes: A variant (no. 590) lacks the date and the initials.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 50 / IM

Description: Rectangular shape; fillet edging; arrangement of five shields: centre, arms of the kingdom of France surmounted by a crown and, below, the word FRANCE on a fillet edged rectangular block over a cartouche; top left, arms of the duchy of Lorraine surmounted by a bishop's mitre and crozier separating a largely illegible text; top right, arms of the kingdom of Spain surmounted by a crown with the letters SPA to the left; bottom right, arms of the duchy of Nevers surmounted by a coronet below a fillet edged rectangle with the word NEVERS; bottom left, arms of the kingdom of England surmounted by a crown below a fillet edged rectangle with the word ANGLIA; bottom centre, the date 1623.

Notes: A taque de foyer or takenplatte; the arms in the corners are likely to be of (from top left): Louis III of Lorraine, Archbishop of Reims; King Philip III of Spain; Charles I, Duke of Nevers and Rethel; and Queen Elizabeth I of England. A similar fireback with the same arms, illustrated by von den Driesch (1990, p.181), has the date 1611, but the absence of a cardinal's hat over the arms of Louis of Lorraine suggests that the fireback originally dates from before 1605.

Inscription: [LORR]AI[NE] SPA / ANGLIA NEVERS / FRANCE / 16z3

Arms: Louis of Lorraine; Kingdom of Spain; Kingdom of France; Kingdom of England; Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers

Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead on fillet edging, pictorial scene of Hercules standing, right arm akimbo and left hand holding a club that rests on his shoulder; to his right the allegorical female figure of Virtue, clothed and resting her left hand on Hercules's right shoulder; to his left the female allegorical figure of Volupta, the pair symbolising the 'crossroads' where Hercules has to decide which path in life to take; below them the text VIRTUS HERCULES VOLUPTA; above, seated above clouds, Jupiter surveys the scene, the word IVPITER below; arched rectangular border with fillet edging, from a central bunch of grapes at the top of the arch, a ribbon on each side suspends bunches of fruit and flowers; at the bottom a central cartouche containing the inscription 'L7G', with flowers on each side;; on top are two mirrored dolphins, their tails covering a bunch of grapes.

Notes: The pictorial scene is loosely based on The Judgement of Hercules, c.1636-7, by Nicholas Poussin. The inscription at the bottom indicates the style of border; other firebacks with the same inscription have the same border; similar inscriptions (e.g. L6C and L8G) indicate different borders. Image from von den Driesch (p. 512).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: IVPITER / VIRTVS HERCVLES VOLVPTA / L7C

Description: Rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); along the top, two irregular arrangements of rope lengths forming a small quasi-square within a larger quasi-square, with the outer corners of the small square joined to the inner corners of the larger square, a short length of rope extending outwards from the top and bottom right corners of the larger square, and within the left small square a rope saltire, and in the right small square a rope cross; between and outside of these rope arrangements, an arched rectangular stamp, with indented edges, of a crowned rose-en-soleil impressed three times; below each rope pattern a fleur-de-lys; below each rose-en-soleil stamp, a circular, six-pointed-star-embossed stamp with beaded edging.

Notes: All of the stamps have been noted on a series of other firebacks together with variations of the rope arrangement. The clarity of the condition of the stamps suggests that this casting predates the others in the series.

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); rope diagonally length across each top corner.

Notes: A very simple rope design seen in several variations on other firebacks.