Firebacks

Manufactured in the Weald area

522 results

  1. 620

    ripley_034.jpg
    920 x 750 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape with rounded corners; ovolo within fillet moulding all round; oval Tudor royal shield with garter surrounding, topped with a royal crown; dragon and greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; two rectangular side panels, each with a bird stamp (probably a swan, a Lancastrian badge) above a vine strip stamp repeated three times vertically.

    Notes: One of two known variants of the John Harvo fireback incorporating extension panels with vine strips and 'swans'; the positions of the swans vary slightly between the two variants.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: E R [+ Garter, Harvo and royal mottoes, all illegible]

    Arms: Tudor royal - prob. Edward VI

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

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

  2. 622

    ripley_037.jpg
    1170 x 670 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment arch; ovolo-moulded edging; central shield, mantling and crest: per pale, on a chevron between three heads erased, as many mullets; crest: a hind’s head erased.

    Notes: No secure identification of the arms. The blazon may be: Per pale on a chevron between three ?gryphons’ heads erased, three mullets (the tinctures are not known). The crest appears to be a hind's head erased. Sold at Christie's Masters and Makers auction, 30 November 2010, lot 531 (£688).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Arms: Not known

    Manufactured: in the late 16th to early 17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

  3. 623

    ripley_038.jpg
    675 x 560 mm

    Description: Rectangular; ovolo moulded edging (top and sides); at top, date split by initials (with dot between).

    Notes: A bold, elegant plate with characters in high relief. The character set is known to have been used for another fireback cast at Heathfield Furnace, Sussex. Sold at Christie's Masters and Makers auction, 30 November 2010, lot 521 (£1000 part with no. 601, no. 637 and no. 634).

    Inscription: 17 I·P 54

    Manufactured: in 1754 at Heathfield Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

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

  4. 624

    ripley_039.jpg
    470 x 370 mm

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto edging all round; seated lion on right, its tail rising above its back and its head turned to face the viewer; a seated sheep on the left; date split across top.

    Notes: Intended to represent the saying, ‘The lion shall lie down with the lamb’, a popular misquotation of Isaiah 11: 6.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1679

    Manufactured: in 1679 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

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

  5. 628

    ripley_045.jpg
    665 x 360 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); twisted rope length stamped eight times in a mirrored double rhombus pattern with a central cross; a crude human figurine stamped irregularly four times, two on each side of the rope design.

    Notes: An uncharacteristically small fireback for its likely period.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Easton, T. & Hodgkinson, J. S., 2013, 'Apotropaic Symbols on Cast-Iron Firebacks', Jnl. of the Antique Metalware Soc., 21, pp. 14-33.

  6. 633

    ripley_053.jpg
    803 x 610 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape with small rhomboidal flanges in the corners of the arch; cavetto moulded edge on all sides, with a rose stamp on each curved enlargement of the moulding in the top corners; Stuart royal arms (1605-88, 1702-14) with lion and unicorn supporters, garter, crown and motto.

    Notes: A recasting. A casting of the same fireback is in the collection of the Sussex Archaeological Society, but with the addition of a person's name impressed from the broken handle of a skillet (no. 405).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: [Garter and royal mottoes]

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in the late 17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2020, 'A Skillet Handle on a Fireback', Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, 25 (2020), pp. 48-51.

  7. 634

    ripley_054.jpg
    558 x 360 mm

    Description: Rectangular; astragal and fillet moulding on top and side edges; symmetrical layout of date and initials; date split between left and right sides, initials in middle.

    Notes: One of a series of backs dating to the 1730s and 40s using very similar sets of letters and numerals. Sold at Christie's Masters and Makers auction, 30 November 2010, lot 521 (£1000 part lot with no. 601, no. 623 and no. 637).

    Inscription: 17 RM 39

    Manufactured: in 1739 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  8. 637

    ripley_057.jpg
    590 x 600 mm

    Description: Rectangular; astragal and fillet edging; date across top of plate.

    Notes: One of a series of backs dating to the 1730s and 40s using very similar sets of letters and numerals. Sold at Christie's Masters and Makers auction, 30 November 2010, lot 521 (£1000 part lot with no. 601, no. 623 and no. 634).

    Inscription: 1736

    Manufactured: in 1736 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

  9. 638

    ripley_058.jpg
    650 x 595 mm

    Description: Rectangular with cavetto curves rising to corners and a ‘pediment’ top; fillet edging with low-relief, alternate regularly-spaced semi-circles and triangles inside; two-handled flower vase with gadrooned upper surface and symmetrical flower design in relief below; trailing vines and flowers issuing from top and descending through handles to base; human face at top; second half of date to right of vase base.

    Notes: Another version, probably by a different pattern-maker, is dated 1662; a recasting; an earlier casting measures 665mm x 610mm

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: [...] 52

    Manufactured: in 1652 possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

  10. 640

    ripley_060.jpg
    650 x 470 mm

    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 stamps repeated twice.

    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.

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

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.