Firebacks

with the same citation

  1. 267

    dawson_02.jpg
    1422 x 914 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, crowned Tudor royal shield (over-pressed) between a leopard passant guardant sinister (on the left) and a leopard passant (on the right); below, crowned shield bearing initials, KH, above a fleur-de-lys, between two further leopards, styles as above; below the lower shield, two 'imp' figures, the left one with both arms lowered, the right with its right arm raised; outside each lower leopard, a crowned rose (over-pressed); each top corner, a pair of ‘imp’ figures styles as before.

    Notes: One of the 'Royal' series. Illustration from Dawson 1903. Formerly in the collection of Dr C. Prince, of Crowborough, Sussex. Further deterioration at the bottom of the casting has caused some loss of metal.

    Inscription: KH

    Arms: Tudor royal arms of England

    Manufactured: in the mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Leeds Castle, Leeds, Kent, England.

    Citation: Balcomb, J. T., Nov. 1886, 'An Extinct Sussex Art', The Art Journal, pp. 337-340.

    Citation: Dawson, C., 1903, 'Sussex Iron Work and Pottery', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, pp. 1-54.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.

    Citation: Garner, T. and Stratton, A., 1911, The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period, Part III (London, Batsford), pp. 240-2 and pl. CLXXIX.

  2. 393

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 027.jpg
    910 x 510 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular with canted top corners; twisted rope edging all round except base: plain plate with two stamps of an iron firedog with twisted neck and shield bearing letters HN and crossed staples; firedogs have columnar capitals; fleur de lys stamp repeated six times, singly at each end, in star pattern in middle; stamps have twisted wreaths.

    Notes: The initials HN probably refer to Henry Nevill, the crossed staples being a badge of the Nevill family. Henry Nevill occupied Mayfield furnace from about 1585 until 1599. One of two variants (see no. 742) with the same firedogs and fleurs-de-lys; other firedogs in a very similar style are known. Formerly at Holmbush Farm, Hellingly, Sussex.

    Inscription: HN HN

    Manufactured: in the late-16th century possibly at Mayfield Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.902 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

    Citation: Anon., 30 Dec 1911, 'Sussex Backs and their Story', The Ironmonger.

    Citation: Christy, M., 30 May 1908, 'The Old Flat Hearth and its Appliances, III - The Fire-back', The Crown, The Court and County Families' Newspaper, XCIX, Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 383-6.

    Citation: Dawson, C., 1903, 'Sussex Iron Work and Pottery', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, pp. 1-54.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.

    Citation: Garner, T. and Stratton, A., 1911, The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period, Part III (London, Batsford), pp. 240-2 and pl. CLXXIX.

  3. 499

    midhurst,_cowdray house 02.jpg
    760 x 796 mm

    Description: Arched rectangle; dentil ovolo-moulded edging; shield, supporters, coronet, helm, crest, mantling and motto of Viscount Montague; quarterly Browne, Albini, Fitzalan, Fitzalan of Clare, Warren, Maltravers, Nevill, Montagu, Monthermer, Inglethorpe, Burghe, Delapole, Bradeston, Tiptoft, Charleton and Kent (Plantagenet); supporters: two bears collared and chained; the crest: an eagle, the wings elevated and displayed.

    Notes: The arms of either the 2nd (Anthony-Maria Browne, succ. 1592-1629) or 3rd viscount (Francis Browne succ. 1629-1682) - the 1st viscount was a Knight of the Garter and no garter is shown.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: VERITATE DUCE [Be led by Truth]

    Arms: Viscount Montague

    Manufactured: in the late-16th to early-17th century in England.

    Current location: Cowdray House, Midhurst, West Sussex, England.

    Citation: Garner, T. and Stratton, A., 1911, The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period, Part III (London, Batsford), pp. 240-2 and pl. CLXXIX.

  4. 735

    va_11.jpg
    740 x 630 mm

    Description: Rectangular; three birds (probably swans, a Lancastrian badge) turned to the left, their heads facing right, and the front edge of their left wing extended and inverted; vine pattern strips, one horizontal along the top, and 14, of varied length, vertically across the rest of the fireback; seven ‘grape bunch’ shapes with criss-cross markings, arranged in three groups — 3-1-3 — adjacent to the birds.

    Notes: The same vine strips are found on several firebacks, including some of the ‘Anne Forster’ series; the birds are also seen on a number of firebacks; the ‘grape bunch’ shapes may be the same as those on the ‘Anne Forster’ graveslab in Crowhurst church, Surrey. John Starkie Gardner and later writers attributed the birds to an association with the Fowle family; this is unlikely to be correct as the Fowles came to prominence in the iron industry towards the end of the sixteenth century and had their own distinctive decorative emblems. Formerly in the collection of Lady Dorothy Nevill.

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

    Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, England.

    Museum number: M.120-1914 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)

    Citation: Dawson, C., 1903, 'Sussex Iron Work and Pottery', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, pp. 1-54.

    Citation: Faraday, L., Feb 1939, 'Sussex Firebacks in the Victoria and Albert Museum', Sussex County Magazine, 13, 2, pp. 100-103.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.

    Citation: Garner, T. and Stratton, A., 1911, The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period, Part III (London, Batsford), pp. 240-2 and pl. CLXXIX.

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

    Citation: Straker, E., 1931, Wealden Iron (London, Bell).

  5. 748

    va_24.jpg
    >585 x 610 mm

    Description: Fragment; right part only; canted rectangle; twisted rope edging; lion passant positioned vertically along right side; rose and crown stamp repeated twice (both over-pressed), each above an ‘imp’ figure with both arms lowered.

    Notes: A particularly clear casting; the right rear leg of the lion (missing on some variants of this series) has been replaced by a short length of twisted rope.

    Manufactured: in the mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, England.

    Museum number: 897.1901 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)

    Citation: Faraday, L., Feb 1939, 'Sussex Firebacks in the Victoria and Albert Museum', Sussex County Magazine, 13, 2, pp. 100-103.

    Citation: Garner, T. and Stratton, A., 1911, The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period, Part III (London, Batsford), pp. 240-2 and pl. CLXXIX.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2022, 'A Tudor Fireback Stamp: the progressive deterioration of its condition as evidence of the relative age of castings', Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, 27, pp. 42-5.

  6. 752

    va_28.jpg
    1480 x 710 mm

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto moulded edging on top and sides, with astragal and fillet inside; talbot crest within wreath and eight-pointed star, repeated at top corners; date top centre between mouldings.

    Notes: The crest is probably that of the Parker family, of Ratton, near Eastbourne, Sussex. The base board appears to have been repositioned prior to the wreath stamps being impressed in the mould. Acquired from Marle Green Farm, Hellingly, Sussex, in 1896.

    Inscription: 1584

    Manufactured: in 1584 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, England.

    Museum number: 780.1896 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)

    Citation: Garner, T. and Stratton, A., 1911, The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period, Part III (London, Batsford), pp. 240-2 and pl. CLXXIX.

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