Firebacks

Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging; shield mounted on a strap-work cartouche, helm, crest, motto scroll and elaborate swirled mantling.

Notes: The arms of the Ironmongers' Company; blazon: Argent, on a chevron gules, between three gads of steel azure, three swivels or; crest: two talbots combatant encoupled together or. The true crest of the company has two salamanders (originally 'scaly lizards') rather than talbots, and it has been noted on other firebacks that salamanders are not always represented as amphibians; Samuel Lyne, in his Heraldry Display'd (1741), described the crest as 'two talbots', etc. The motto scroll is blank, indicating that the pattern was an armorial panel with a painted, rather than a carved, motto. A variant of the same fireback has the date 1660 and initials GI (Country Life, 8 March 1946, p. 450; 29 March 1946, p.588). Reeman Dansie auction, Colchester, 13 Apr 2016, lot 1224; Bellman's auction, Wisborough Green, 13 Oct 2021, lot 588 (£220).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Worshipful Company of Ironmongers

Description: Rectangle with triangular arch; twisted rope edging (top and sides); centre top, initials in triad, E above; two twisted rope crosses irregularly spaced below initials.

Notes: The initials, probably of a husband and wife, show minimal extension in the horizontal, although the 'I' has a stud halfway; the crosses almost certainly have an apotropaic purpose; the depth of the casting varies between the top, where it is thickest, and the bottom. Bellman's auction, Wisborough Green, 13 Oct 2021, lot 589 (£420).

Inscription: IEL [triad]

Description: Rectangular; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); repeated guilloche pattern inside top and side edges; upper centre, lozenge stamp with ovolo edges and recessed daisy flower in centre, between buckle stamp repeated twice; the lozenge stamp is repeated over-stamping the lower part of the first.

Notes: The lozenge stamp is a design also seen on domestic interior panelling; the buckles suggest a Pelham family association; the buckle and lozenge are separate stamps, and in each example their relative positions differ slightly; the guilloche design appears to have been carved on the base panel; an example at The Star Inn, Alfriston, Sussex measures 665mm x 480mm.

Description: Rectangular; stepped fillet moulded edging (top and sides); small fleur-de-lys stamp repeated five times, three centred across the top, two centred across the middle.

Notes: The fleur-de-lys stamp appears to have been constructed using wire.

Description: Fragment; rectangular; twisted rope edging; top centre, date [1]647; top right, initials FAB in triad, A below F and B.

Notes: The initials were probably mirrored on the left side. Acquired from a location at Tintern, Monmouthshire. A fireback of near identical design and provenance was noted by David Bick at Poolway House, Coleford, Gloucestershire (Gloucs. Archives D9104).

Inscription: 647 FAB [triad]

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); central Tudor royal shield with encircling garter (motto reversed), separate greyhound and lion supporters, separate crown; rectangular bordered stamp with an animal facing to the right, repeated once above and on each side of the armorial; bold fleur-de-lys stamp repeated once on each side of the armorial below the other stamp; all irregularly positioned.

Notes: The armorial and fleurs-de-lys are seen together on a plate at Alfriston Clergy House.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Tudor royal (prob. Henry VIII)

Description: Arched rectangular shape; wide fillet and egg-and-dart ovolo edging; central oval armorial with fillet edging, palm fronds on each side, tied below, a crown above; in each top corner, the cross of Lorraine.

Notes: The arms are those of Duke Leopold I of Lorraine, who also bore the titles of King of Jerusalem, Hungary and Aragon, and Duke of Anjou, Bar, Gueldre and Juliers.

Arms: Leopold I, Duke of Lorraine and Bar (1680-1729)

Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging;lower centre, crowned bust of King William III above a cartouche, possibly orange branches, with leaves and fruit on each side; above, a putto blowing a trumpet; initials on each side of cartouche; date split between bottom corners.

Notes: A finely detailed image of King William III; the significance of initials is not known. It is possible that the bust of the king, the date, initials and the surrounding branches were carved on a separate pattern which was added to an otherwise simple mould comprising an arched rectangular border and the trumpet-blowing putto before casting. Christie's auction, 25 Feb 2014, lot 184 (£6,000).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 96 / AC AL

Description: Rectangular joined to pediment by symmetrical scrolls; fillet edging with embattling inside; shield, helm, crest, supporters and mantling of the city of Bristol; date split by bottom of shield; inscription in an oval cartouche below shield; rectangular side extensions with twisted rope edging; initial on each extension.

Notes: The mismatched ‘3’ in the date is likely to have replaced a ‘1’ or ‘2’. The pattern-maker was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches and a small number of series of firebacks in the first quarter of the 17th century. A variant without the side extension panels is no. 355.

Inscription: T H / 16 34 / ARMES BRISTOLL

Arms: City of Bristol

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; cavetto-moulded-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 16 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows (5-6-5); Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable.

Notes: William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Bretons, Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex. The initials 'CT' are likely to be those of Charles Tyler, a founder whose working life and that of his family have strong parallels with the occurrence of these firebacks. Indentations in the spaces in the upper parts of this fireback appear to impressions of fingers.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: C.1.6.0.1.T

Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)