Firebacks

Description: Canted rectangle; moulded fillet edging (top and sides); top line, 'daisy' plant stamp repeated three times, spaced evenly, with 'SOWLY' in a block, a ducal coronet above, between the left two, and '1721' in individual numerals, a ducal coronet above, between the right two; a swirling foliage stamp repeated down each side, a 'daisy' plant below each; initials 'I' and 'B' separately in bottom corners.

Notes: Sowley was the iron furnace in Hampshire owned in 1721 by the 2nd duke of Montagu, whose coronet is seen in the decoration, and operated by John White of Monmouth. The swirled foliage stamp is seen on other firebacks identified by the letters 'IB' between 1703 and 1721, probably indicating the same founder.

Inscription: SOWLY 1721 / I B

Description: Rectangular; moulded fillet edging (top and sides); left justified text in upper case, in two lines: Tunc bonus est ignis cum pendet stiria tignis (Then fire is good when icicles hang from the eaves); below left, 'SOWLY' in a block; below right, '1721' in individual numerals; a swirling foliage stamp repeated down each side; initials 'I' and 'B' separately in bottom corners.

Notes: The source of the inscription is 'A Dictionarie in English and Latine for Children' by William Clark (London, Thomas Purfoot, 1602), p. 13. Sowley was the iron furnace in Hampshire owned in 1721 by the 2nd duke of Montagu and operated by John White of Monmouth. The swirled foliage stamp is seen on other firebacks identified by the letters 'IB' between 1703 and 1721, probably indicating the same founder.

Inscription: TUNC BONUS EST IGNIS / CUM PENDET STIRIA TIGNIS / SOWLY 1721/ I B

Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging with an astragal inside; baroque-style shield of Montagu impaling Wriothesley.

Notes: Ralph Montagu (1638-1709), afterwards Earl of Montagu and later Duke, married Elizabeth Percy, née Wriothesley, daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton, in 1673. She died in 1690; thus the fireback dates to between 1673 and 1690; Blazon: (Montagu) Argent, three lozenges conjoined in fess gules, a border sable; (Wriothesley) Azure, a cross or between four falcons close argent.

Arms: Montagu impaling Wriothesley

Description: Arched rectangular shape; plain edge with 49 large beads parallel with top and sides; upper centre, date in bold Arabic numerals; below date, raised rectangular panel with chamfered sides and corners and fillet edging, and a symmetrical sunburst and rainbow design in low relief.

Notes: Modern, quasi-Art Deco design

Inscription: 1990

Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo moulded edging; date in arch; below arch two parallel, vertical straps, each with a buckle at the top; initials left and right of centre; roughly symmetrical arrangement of four stamps repeated: rectangular stamp with deer three times down centre, one outside each buckle and one beyond each strap end; circular food mould stamp outside centre of each strap, beyond stag stamp outside buckle and at edge beyond strap end; 'rabbit' stamp at edge beyond food mould stamp outside each buckle and outside each strap end; rectangular stamp with 'dog' outside each initial and six times below strap ends.

Notes: The buckles suggest a connection with the Pelham family; the initials may relate to Sir Thomas Pelham, Bt. (1597-1654) who owned and operated ironworks at Waldron in Sussex. From the drawing the seven 'deer' stamps appear to be the same as those seen on two other examples of this fireback. The food mould stamp (centre left and right) appears to be one seen repeated on at least one other fireback. Drawing of a fireback at Huggetts Farm, Waldron, Sussex, by Edward Hughes, of Heathfield, Sussex; J. Starkie Gardner collection, Victoria & Albert Museum, Archive of Art and Design (AAD/2014/8).

Inscription: 1642 / T P

Description: Rectangular with canted top corners; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, date formed from a single stamp, over-pressed; monogram below date.

Notes: Dates formed from a single stamp are uncommon, this series being distinguished by this practice. Formerly at a house in Rochester. Bentley Auctioneers, Cranbrook, lot 889, 4 Jun 2022 (£130).

Inscription: 1630 / HPE

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; otherwise plain plate with inscription panel centre top.

Notes: Inscription panel identical to that on the memorial plate to Anne Forster in Crowhurst church, Surrey. At least ten other firebacks are known with the same inscription panel.

Inscription: HER : LIETH : ANE : FORST/ R : DAVGHTER : AND : / HEYR : TO : THOMAS : / GAYNSFORD : ESQVIER / DECEASED : XVIII : OF: / IANVARI : 1591 : LEAVYNG / BEHIND : HER II : SONES : / AND : V : DAVGHTERS

Description: Arched rectangular shape with quadrant extensions on top corners; twisted rope edging (top and sides); vertical rope line parallel to each side, forming two separate side panels; horizontal rope line joined to vertical lines enclosing the following: inside arch, initials IBA in triad; below initials, double fleur-de-lys stamp between split date; below horizontal line, a double fleur stamp in each top corner of central lower panel; in each side panel, a single bead above a vertical sequence of squared cross stamps repeated eight times.

Notes: The distinctive squared cross and fleur stamps are seen on other firebacks; the initials in triad may relate to a husband and wife. A taller variant of the same fireback is at Northgate House, Warwick. Mendip Auctions, Binegar, Somerset, 7 Sep 2019, lot 374.

Inscription: IBA [triad] / 16 93

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

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: R.R / 1857

Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top, centred, text in five lines uppercase with the letter 'U' represented as 'V'.

Notes: Apart from the word 'Bunces' the text is an expanded transcription of the entry in the Domesday Book for Birch Grove, south of East Grinstead. Allegedly it was the author, Rudyard Kipling, who suggested to the then owner of that property that the text be used to decorate a fireback.

Inscription: BVNCES. / ISDEM WILLELMVS TENET / DE COMITE EXTRA RAPVM / VNAM VIRGAM IN / BONTEGRAVE