Firebacks

Manufactured in England

883 results

  1. 306

    groombridge_place_05.jpg
    610 x 455 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides) with a fillet inside; top centre, concentric roundel with rose-and-crown below; top left, initials in triad with small rose below 'W' and small fleur-de-lys below 'M'; upper right, date with small fleur below '6' and small rose lower, below second '7'.

    Notes: The style of rose and crown is similar to that used in gun founding in the Tudor period, suggesting that the furnace that was the source of this fireback may have been used for that purpose.

    Inscription: WLM [triad] 1677

    Manufactured: in 1677 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Speldhurst, Kent, England.

  2. 76

    guildford_museum 01.jpg
    655 x 445 mm

    Description: Rectangular with ‘portico’ arch; cavetto edging; two-handled vase, flower stems on each side entwined round handles; flowers emerging from top of vase; base of vase overlaps the edging.

    Notes: One of a varied group of small firebacks with bold, simple designs and cavetto edging; formerly in the possession of Gertrude Jekyll, Munstead Wood, near Godalming, Surrey.

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

    Current location: Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey, England.

    Museum number: S.7129 (part of the Guildford Museum museum group)

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

    Citation: Jekyll, G., 1903, Old West Surrey, London, Longmans.

  3. 77

    guildford_museum 02.jpg
    382 x 610 mm

    Description: 'Dutch' style; arched rectangular shaped central panel, bead edging, two children sitting astride a beast (possibly a winged ram); arched rectangular shaped border, fillet edging, swags of fruit bunches suspended from ribbon; on top, symmetrical floral swirls and flowers.

    Notes: The image is probably intended to be Phrixus and Helle riding the winged ram with the golden fleece, but in recasting it has been misinterpreted as the young Samson slaying the lion at Timnath; Judges 14: 5-6.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 NDW 97 / DER JUNGE SAMSON [the young Samson]

    Manufactured: in the late-17th to early-18th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey, England.

    Museum number: G.486 (part of the Guildford Museum museum group)

  4. 78

    guildford_museum 03.jpg
    715 x 440 mm

    Description: Sub-rectangular; twisted rope edging; lengths of twisted rope arranged to form two 'V' shapes and an 'I' overlapping to forma possible monogram.

    Notes: The 'monogram' comprises different length pieces of rope and may have an apotropaic significance, the double 'V' referring to the Virgin Mary.

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

    Current location: Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey, England.

    Museum number: G.488 (part of the Guildford Museum museum group)

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

  5. 81

    guildford_museum 06.jpg
    677 x 620 mm

    Description: Rectangular with two mirrored scrolls on top, a lion’s face between; bas-relief semi-circle edging (sides and bottom); central pilaster with vine scrolling, Corinthian capital, initials on the pedestal; on either side, an arched alcove, each with a halberdier in mid-17th century clothes, their feet pointing to the middle.

    Notes: Stylistically similar to the Lenard fireback (no. 429), the initials also appear on other firebacks, possibly from Brede. All known examples of this fireback are poorly modelled and cast.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: IM

    Manufactured: in the early- to mid-17th century possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey, England.

    Museum number: S.7108 (part of the Guildford Museum museum group)

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2014, 'A Seventeenth-Century Sussex Woodcarver: The Evidence of Cast Ironwork', Regional Furniture, 28, pp. 39-48.

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

  6. 82

    guildford_museum 07.jpg
    338 x 540 mm

    Description: 'Dutch' style; arched rectangular shaped central panel, bead on fillet edging, naturalistic scene of a heron with wings extended catching a fish, water below, clouds above, plants in background; arched rectangular shaped border, fillet edging, symmetrical scrolled tendril pattern; at bottom, two looped 'W' figures between date split corners; on top, symmetrical scrolled foliage. A single central vertical plankline.

    Notes: The image of the heron is taken from a print, by Wenceslaus Hollar c.1658, of an etching by Francis Barlow (c.1626-1704); the style of the date suggests a similar pattern maker to a series of firebacks, of the same date, some bearing a Welsh inscription. All incorporate the looped 'W' motif which may be intended to identify the pattern maker. The small size of this fireback makes it likely that it was intended to be fixed to the back of a grate.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 17 24

    Manufactured: in 1724 in England.

    Current location: Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey, England.

    Museum number: G.487 (part of the Guildford Museum museum group)

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

  7. 84

    guildford_museum 09.jpg
    945 x >850 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ‘egg and dart’ ovolo moulding visible on top and sides; shield, helmet, crest, mantling and supporters of the Mohun family.

    Notes: Cast from a finely carved pattern, the supporters denote these are the arms of a peer. The crest is: Gules, a maunch ermine, with a hand proper holding a fleur de lys or. Egg and dart moulding is rare and examples (at Maidstone and Burwash) may be the work of the same pattern maker. From Sidney Farm, Alfold, Surrey; Reginald Mohun (pron. Moon) of Dedisham, Slinfold, Sussex, was husband of Elizabeth Blounte of Dedisham c.1636. Bottom missing due to corrosion.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Arms: Mohun family, barons of Okehampton

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

    Current location: Guildford Museum, Guildford, Surrey, England.

    Museum number: G.7106 (part of the Guildford Museum museum group)

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

  8. 85

    hadlow_down antiques 01.jpg
    800 x 510 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; twisted rope arranged to form inscription across upper half of plate.

    Notes: The double 'v' may have an apotropaic significance, invoking the Virgin Mary.

    Inscription: +W+

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

    Current location: in private hands, Hadlow Down, 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.

  9. 86

    hadlow_down antiques 02.jpg
    660 x 914 mm

    Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; central female figure with urn on head, above which is an oval cartouche (possibly a mirror); to left, fireplace with basket grate, above which a lobster and another (unidentified) creature bear a covered vase; to right a seated female figure stretches forth her left arm, behind her is a statue of a female figure on a plinth at the foot of a curving flight of stairs; the whole is surrounded by naturalistic rocks and trees, suggesting a grotto.

    Notes: An unusually free pictorial decoration.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: in private hands, Hadlow Down, East Sussex, England.

  10. 91

    hadlow_down, tulleys.jpg
    1247 x 770 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); narrow top panel and two narrow side panels, each separated by twisted rope; top panel with symmetrical inscription line begun and ended with a stamp formed of four spots in square, the same stamps separating the date, each of the initials and a central rose stamp, the date being repeated at each end; plain side panels; central panel comprising three shields bearing a rose and crown, one on the top line between two rectangles, each bearing a griffin passant, and two shields on the ends of the lower line with two rectangles with griffins between, the bottom half of the plate is plain.

    Notes: The shield and griffin stamps appear on two firebacks at Hastings Museum, in each of which the shields are inverted.

    Inscription: 1569 HB AB 1569

    Manufactured: in 1569 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Hadlow Down, East Sussex, England.

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