Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular shape with a fleur-de-lys springing from each shoulder; cyma recta-moulded edging; quartered shield of the Stuart royal arms of England with surrounding Garter, surmounted by a crown and supported by a crowned lion and unicorn; indistinct motto cartouche along the bottom.

Notes: A poorly-modelled and much-worn fireback. The fleur extensions to the top of the edging are an unusual feature

Arms: English Stuart royal

Description: Rectangular with ogee arch; ovolo, egg and dart edging; shield, garter, helm, mantling, crest and motto of the English House of Stuart; date split either side of garter buckle.

Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches. Similar in design but proportionately different to no. 880.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown, motto and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); Tudor rose to right of lion’s head, portcullis to left of dragon’s head; temp. Elizabeth I.

Notes: Three versions of this fireback are known, with differing edging and one without the rose and portcullis.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: [Garter] HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / [motto] DIEV ET MON DROIT.

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edge; Tudor royal shield, crown, garter and supporters (dragon and greyhound). Crowned rose on left, and crowned portcullis (grid of 16) on right side of crown; the supporters stand on a horizontal fillet; date panel with ovolo-moulding on top, central putto face splitting two parts of date with faces of putti in profile at each end.

Notes: Arms are of Edward VI. A very clear casting, almost certainly from the original pattern. There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE / 15 48

Arms: Tudor royal Edward VI

Description: Rectangular; carved strip with undulating vine between fillets, repeated on each side; carved inscription panel along top edge; centre, two traceried panels, each with a central shield beneath a gothic arch.

Notes: One of several similar firebacks produced in the same period.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: JHESUS MARIA JHONES

Description: Canted rectangle; elaborate cavetto moulded edging (top and sides); strapwork shield with a demi-flower at each side, between initials (S only visible); arms quarterly of six, 1st Or two chevronels Gules, on a canton of the last a mullet of the first (Pope); 2nd Argent three bars Gules, on a canton ermine a bend of lozenges of the second (Walshe); 3rd Sable three laurel leaves in bend Or between two bendlets Argent (Waller); 4th Azure a chevron between three crosses Moline Argent (Lansdale); 5th Ermine on a bend Gules three lions’ heads erased Or (Weston); 6th Azure a lion rampant Or supporting a cross patée fitchée of the second (Pichingham).

Notes: The excrescence over the third quartering is the result of the iron being poured directly onto the mould. The second initial is known from another casting. The date above the shield has been inserted before casting and differs slightly from another example of the same back.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1625 / S [P]

Arms: Pope (Sackevile Pope (b. 1589) of Hendall, in Buxted, Sussex)

Description: Rectangular with an arched rectangular style arch linked by symmetrical concave curves; ovolo moulding (top and sides); shield, helm, crest and mantling of the Fuller family. A number 7, the only visible part of the date seen on other castings is in the top right corner of the shield.

Notes: A carved armorial on a plain, edged base board; the arms of the Fullers of Brightling Park, Sussex: Argent, three bars and a canton gules; the crest; Out of a ducal coronet Or, a lion’s head argent; the Fullers were iron masters and gun founders in the first half of the 18th century, operating Heathfield furnace, where it is likely that this fireback was cast.

Inscription: [1] 7 / [4] [7]

Arms: Fuller, of Brightling, Sussex

Description: Rectangular with cavetto moulded edging; English Royal supporters (crowned lion and unicorn) standing upon a cartouche, upon which rests a blank motto scroll; above, an anchor, surrounded by a looped cable is encircled by the Garter ribbon, which is surmounted by a royal coronet; the numbers ‘61’, presumably part of the date, are to the right of the unicorn, and a letter, ‘D’, is placed between the unicorn and the coronet.

Notes: From another casting of the same back, the date is known to be 1661. The cabled anchor is the badge of the Lord High Admiral who, in 1661, was the Duke of York and Albany, later James II. The missing initial is an ‘I’, for Jacobus Dux. The absence of the motto may be explained by the pattern being a carved armorial panel where the motto text, unlike that of the Garter, was merely painted.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: [I] D / 16 61

Arms: Lord High Admiral of England

Description: Quasi-arched rectangular with 5-facetted arch; cyma recta moulded edging (top and sides); in the centre, an oval Tudor royal shield on a cartouche surrounded by a garter, a crown above, separating the initials, ER, all on a larger cartouche.

Notes: An example at Chiddingstone in Kent has additional circular, crowned armorial stamps, linking it to firebacks dating fron 1589. Brightwells auction, Leominster, 16 Mar 2016, lot 704 (£220).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: E / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENCE / R

Arms: Tudor royal (Elizabeth I)

Description: Arched rectangular shape with ovolo-moulded edging and extensions to sides and top; central shield bearing arms with lion rampant supporters and motto scroll beneath; above, a marquesal coronet; date (over-pressed) in extension above main panel; inserted initials (slightly over-pressed) on either side of coronet.

Notes: The arms are of Henry Pierrepont, marquess of Dorchester and earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, of Thoresby Hall, Nottinghamshire (blazon: argent semi of cinquefoils gules, a lion rampant sable), with the motto: Pie Repone Te (Place yourself piously), a pun on the name, Pierrepont. Confusingly, the marquisate of Dorchester was created twice for members of the same family. In 1645 it was created for Henry Pierrepont, 2nd earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, becoming extinct on his death without surviving male issue in 1680. It was created again for Evelyn Pierrepont, the 5th earl of Kingston in 1706 who was subsequently elevated to the dukedom of Kingston in 1715. The original casting may therefore have dated to between 1645 and 1680 or between 1706 and 1715. The initials may be related to the Halls, the 2nd Duke of Kingston's mother's family, and were added to a subsequent casting which, in turn, could have pre-dated the addition of the dated extensions which have obliterated 'Dutch'-style dolphins known to have surmounted the original.

Inscription: 1722 / I H / PIE REPONE TE

Arms: Pierrepont, Marquess of Dorchester