Firebacks

Manufactured in England

886 results

  1. 909

    taddington_manor 04.jpg
    617 x 910 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging;lower centre, crowned bust of King William III above a cartouche, possibly orange branches, with leaves and fruit on each side; above, a putto blowing a trumpet; initials on each side of cartouche; date split between bottom corners.

    Notes: A finely detailed image of King William III; the significance of initials is not known. It is possible that the bust of the king, the date, initials and the surrounding branches were carved on a separate pattern which was added to an otherwise simple mould comprising an arched rectangular border and the trumpet-blowing putto before casting. Christie's auction, 25 Feb 2014, lot 184 (£6,000).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 96 / AC AL

    Manufactured: in 1696 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  2. 952

    taddington_manor 05c.jpg
    1117 x 872 mm

    Description: Rectangular joined to pediment by symmetrical scrolls; fillet edging with embattling inside; shield, helm, crest, supporters and mantling of the city of Bristol; date split by bottom of shield; inscription in an oval cartouche below shield; rectangular side extensions with twisted rope edging; initial on each extension.

    Notes: The mismatched ‘3’ in the date is likely to have replaced a ‘1’ or ‘2’. The pattern-maker was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches and a small number of series of firebacks in the first quarter of the 17th century.

    Inscription: T H / 16 34 / ARMES BRISTOLL

    Arms: City of Bristol

    Manufactured: in 1634 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2017, 'Church Armorials and Firebacks: Evidence of an Early 17th-Century Woodcarver', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 135, pp. 213-223.

  3. 699

    taddington_manor.jpg
    1490 x 840 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; cavetto-moulded-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 16 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows (5-6-5); Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable.

    Notes: William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex. The initials 'CT' are likely to be those of Charles Tyler, a founder whose working life and that of his family have strong parallels with the occurrence of these firebacks. An identical fireback is in a house at Cowden, Kent, and a broken example is at Wool House, a National Trust property at Loose also in Kent; small variations in the alignment of the shields are apparent.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: C.1.6.0.1.T

    Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)

    Manufactured: in 1601 possibly at Bedgebury Furnace, Goudhurst in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Cowper, H. S., 1911, 'A Series of Kentish Heraldic Firebacks and the Identification of the Arms', Archaeologia Cantiana, 29, pp. 40-6.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2018, 'A series of Kentish firebacks and the possible identification of their founder', Archaeologia Cantiana, 139, pp. 312-15.

  4. 51

    taunton,_london fine ltd.jpg
    890 x 680 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped, topped with a triangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); inverted Tudor royal shield and Garter, crown above, greyhound and lion supporters (see example at Alfriston Clergy House). Two horizontal planklines.

    Notes: A uniquely shaped fireback, the inverted shield and Garter indicate that they formed a separate stamp from the crown; other firebacks with these stamps have the shield and Garter the correct way round. A frequently copied fireback; a larger version has a bottom extension.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONE SOVT QUEY MAL Y PENSE

    Arms: Tudor royal (prob.Henry VIII)

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

    Current location: Courtlands, Taunton, Somerset, England.

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

  5. 1167

    tennants_auctioneers_20_mar_2015_lot_781.jpg
    700 x ~435 mm

    Description: Canted quasi-rectangular shape; no edging; parallel with top edge, initials in triad to left, separated from date by a small, ill-defined flower stamp.

    Notes: The serifed character set is boldly impressed, although the S is indistinct, suggesting that some of the moulding sand may have filled the impression before casting. The indentations on each side were cut to accommodate mouldings. Tennants Auctioneers sale, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, 20 March 2015, lot 781.

    Inscription: ISM [triad] 1611

    Manufactured: in 1611 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  6. 859

    terry_sparks 01.jpg
    970 x 675 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (to and sides); top centre, shield bearing a lion rampant with two heads, between split initials.

    Notes: The heraldic charge of a lion rampant with two heads is rare, the only documented family with which it is associated being that of Mason, of Yorkshire, to whom this shield does not seem to apply.

    Inscription: TS

    Arms: Not known

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

    Current location: not known.

  7. 860

    terry_sparks 02a.jpg
    695 x 490 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; fillet edging (top and sides); top centre, initials, above date, between repeated fleur-de-lys stamp; from top corners to bottom corners, repeated V-shape pattern formed of stamped short fillets, with an L-shape inserted between the top two Vs on each side.

    Notes: The fleurs de lys are of a distinctive style seen on a small group of firebacks.

    Inscription: RH / 1662

    Manufactured: in 1662 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  8. 861

    terry_sparks_03a.jpg
    605 x 445 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, date.

    Inscription: 1697

    Manufactured: in 1697 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  9. 1258

    tetbury,_31_long_street_870x500.jpg
    ~870 x 500 mm

    Description: Broken and fragmentary; canted quasi-rectangular shape, with sides inclined; twisted rope edging; top centre, date with initials below separated by a fleur-de-lys; seven fleurs-de-lys down each side, pints perpendicular to rope edging; a fleur beneath each initial, possibly other fleurs and another initial missing in between.

    Notes: The fleurs-de-lys are of a distinctive form apparently unique to this series of firebacks.

    Inscription: 1628 / S G

    Manufactured: in 1628 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: 31 Long Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England.

  10. 1091

    thornbury,_the freeth.jpg
    ~1000 x ~700 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); date in arch; initials in triads in top corners.

    Notes: A fireback at Cotehele House in Cornwall, dated 1647 and bearing the initials AA, which may have come from Longden Hall, south-west of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, and was purchased by the National Trust from Longden Parish Council in the early 1970s, is similar in both its shape and style

    Inscription: 1655 / RWA [triad] / RWA [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1655 in England.

    Current location: The Freeth, Thornbury, Herefordshire, England.

    Citation: Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England, 1932, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire, Volume 2: East (London, HMSO).