Firebacks

Manufactured in England

882 results

  1. 1213

    durham_cathedral,_priors_hall.jpg
    ~1130 x ~680 mm

    Description: Rectangle with curved shoulders and low arch joined with concave curves; fillet and ogee moulded edging; central Tudor royal shield surrounded by garter, with crown above and lion and dragon supporters; royal initials either side of crown.

    Notes: On other castings of this fireback the initials are 'ER', the 'I' for James having been substituted here for the 'E' for Elizabeth but incorrectly retaining the Tudor shield. The garter motto includes ‘EQVI’ instead of ‘HONI’, making it meaningless; possibly ‘EQVI’ was a mis-transcription of ‘HONI’; the crown is distinctly continental in form.

    Inscription: I R

    Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI or Elizabeth I

    Manufactured: in the early-17th century in England.

    Current location: Prior's Hall, Durham Cathedral, Durham, County Durham, England.

  2. 55

    dyrham_park 01.jpg
    1016 x 610 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; cavetto moulded edging (top and sides); single horizontal fillet below canted corners and vertical fillet parallel to each side, dividing the fireback into two side panels, two top corner panels, top panel and main central panel; ‘daisy’ plant stamp in top corners, and at outer end of top panel enclosing two, opposite facing, lion passant stamps with date between; swirling foliage stamp repeated in each side panel above initial, I to left, B to right; stamp of ‘Indian’ smoking a pipe in top left of central panel, stamp of seated ‘gentleman’ smoking a pipe and holding another, at top right.

    Notes: The 'daisy' stamp and the IB initials are identical to those on similar firebacks dated between 1703 and 1721, and probably indicating the same founder. The use of stamps relating to tobacco smoking may suggest an origin near Bristol, the main entry port for the tobacco trade at that time. Lent to Dyrham Park by the late John Workman OBE, of Sheepscombe, Gloucs. in 1963, and given in 1996.

    Inscription: 1708 / I B

    Manufactured: in 1708 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Dyrham Park, Dyrham, Gloucestershire, England.

    Museum number: 453259 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

  3. 56

    dyrham_park 02a.jpg
    660 x 572 mm

    Description: Flattened arched rectangular shape; cavetto moulded edge all round; Stuart royal arms with lion and unicorn supporters, crown, garter and motto; CR initials placed separately outside supporters; date split either side of crown.

    Notes: A much-copied variant with the additional initials, I T, above the date and on either side of the crown.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: I T / 1635 / C R / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (Charles I )

    Manufactured: in 1635 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Dyrham Park, Dyrham, Gloucestershire, England.

    Museum number: 453291 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

    Citation: Lloyd, N., 1925, 'Domestic Ironwork I', Architectural Review, 58, pp. 58-67.

  4. 871

    east_grinstead, gullege 02.jpg
    895 x ~590 mm

    Description: Canted rectanular shape, with stepped fillet edging (top and sides); upper centre, horizontal ?leather twist above an inverted ?leather twist 'V'; on each side, a shield-shaped stamp repeated twice, the upper one of each being angled so its side is parallel to the canted edging.

    Notes: The design on the shield is not recognisably heraldic in form, and appears to incorporate a possible pictorial element although this is not clear; the inverted 'V' shape may have apotropaic significance.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the late-16th century in England.

    Current location: in private hands, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

    Citation: Lloyd, N., 1925, 'Domestic Ironwork I', Architectural Review, 58, pp. 58-67.

  5. 1100

    east_grinstead, sackville college 01 (2).jpg
    940 x 520 mm

    Description: Quasi-rectangular shape with inward curving sides; twisted rope edging (top and sides); arrangement of fleurs-de-lys: top centre, four in a star formation with two horizontally below; two vertically to left and right; vertical dagger, pommel to base, stamped twice inside outer fleurs.

    Notes: A uniquely shaped fireback with fleurs and daggers (each about 35cm long) seen on two other firebacks (no. 595 and no. 660).

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

    Current location: Sackville College, Church Lane, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

  6. 1101

    east_grinstead, sackville college 04.jpg
    955 x 555 mm

    Description: Rectangular arrangement with fillet edging of eight square panels (four over four) between moulded stiles.

    Notes: The pattern for this fireback suggests that it was made from a section of panelling, perhaps fitted into a frame for rigidity.

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

    Current location: Sackville College, Church Lane, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

  7. 57

    east_grinstead_church_3.jpg
    1180 x 730 mm

    Description: Rectangular; rope edging on top and sides; central inscription panel; repeated trailing vine decoration from impressed wooden strips — one horizontal line at top, four vertical strips each side of panel, eleven vertical strips below.

    Notes: This fireback came to East Grinstead church from Hurst-an-Clays, a former farmhouse on the edge of the town, in 1933. The inscription is from the same carved pattern used on the graveslab of Anne Forster in Crowhurst church, Surrey; several firebacks have been cast using this panel, each different in other details from the rest. Some of the firebacks using this inscription date from after 1591.

    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

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

    Current location: St Swithun's Church, High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2018, 'The Anne Forster Firebacks', Surrey Archaeological Collections, 101, 99-114.

    Citation: Holgate, M. S., 1918, 'The Anne Forster Grave Slab', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 59, pp. 130-1.

  8. 1012

    east_preston, bay tree cottage (country life 1959) 762x533.jpg
    762 x 533 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle with twisted rope edging (top and sides); rope line separating rectangle from trapezoidal section, which is, in turn, separated by rope lines into a central rectangle containing a rebated lozenge stamp beneath the date (reversed), and two mirrored triangles each containing what appear to be mirrored stamps of a bird, possibly a partridge, and an initial; both the initials and the date are reversed.

    Notes: Reversal of numerals and letters is not uncommon on firebacks.

    Inscription: E [or] F 16 04 C

    Manufactured: in 1604 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Eschbaecher, J., 22 Jan 1959, 'Why in reverse?' [letter], Country Life, p. 153.

  9. 275

    edburton,_tottington manor.jpg
    530 x 760 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with indented arch at bottom; bead within double fillet edging; shield, helm, crest and supporters of Bruce, of Duffryn, Glamorgan; 'Fuimus' inscription above crest; motto in rectangular panel below arms; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; scrolled tendril decoration all round, except at centre bottom where is inserted crowned 'A' between halves of date; mirrored scrolls above shoulders of plate.

    Notes: A modern plate in traditional style; the arms are of Henry Campbell Bruce (1851-1929), the second baron, who succeeded to the title in 1895.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: FVIMVS [We have been] / OFNER NA OFNE ANGAV [Fear him who does not fear death] / 19 A 06

    Arms: Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare

    Manufactured: in 1906 in England.

    Current location: Tottington Manor, Edburton, West Sussex, England.

  10. 276

    ellesborough,_chequers 01.jpg
    880 x 725 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto moulding all round; spreading oak tree, with leaves and acorns, filling the whole plate; three royal crowns, one at the top of the tree, the other two symmetrically on the ends of branches towards the top corners; initials GR towards the bottom corners, the remaining inscription on a scroll across the base.

    Notes: The design is derived from the celebrated occasion when Charles II evaded his pursuers by hiding in an oak tree at Boscobel House, near Wolverhampton, following the final Royalist defeat at the battle of Worcester in 1651. This popular fireback has been copied frequently, and in this recast example the inscription has been re-modelled, with the traditional CR (for Carolus Rex) replaced by GR (for Georgius Rex - George V).

    Inscription: G THE ROYALL OAK R

    Manufactured: in the early-20th century in England.

    Current location: Chequers, Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, England.