Firebacks

Manufactured in England

887 results

  1. 848

    unknown_40_850x640_altered_bw_lge.jpg
    ~920 x ~750 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape with rounded corners; ovolo within fillet moulding all round; oval Tudor royal shield with garter surrounding, topped with a royal crown; dragon and greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; two rectangular side panels, each with a bird stamp (probably a swan, a Lancastrian badge) above a vine strip stamp repeated three times vertically.

    Notes: One of two known variants of the John Harvo fireback incorporating extension panels with vine strips and 'swans'; the positions of the swans vary slightly between the two variants. Formerly at the old post office, Ticehurst, Sussex.

    Inscription: E R / HONY SOIT QUE MAL Y PAYNCE

    Arms: Tudor royal - prob. Edward VI

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

    Current location: not known.

  2. 901

    unknown_42  laughing lion 787x700mm.jpg
    787 x 700 mm

    Description: Quasi-Arched rectangular shape with cyma reversa shoulders; ovolo edging; stylised lion passant guardant; crowned rose with leaf and stem on left, crowned fleur de lys on right, thistle with leaves above centre; three right-facing scrolls at base; down-facing scroll, with staple, on right side; date split between bottom corners; initials below date, bottom right.

    Notes: Blatantly Royalist in its symbolism, a variant (no. 763) is dated (perhaps less convincingly) 1649. Numeral style, initials, leaf depiction and the stapled scroll are typical features of firebacks made from patterns by the same maker. A later version of the same subject, but with a different shaped plate and without the fleur-de-lys, is also known (see 'Royalist series'). M. A. Lower writes of this design of fireback being cast at Waldron Furnace in Sussex (Lower, 1849, p.219).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 41 / IM

    Manufactured: in 1641 possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Wandsworth, London, England.

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

    Citation: Lower, M. A., 1849, 'Iron Works of the County of Sussex', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 2, pp. 169-220 (esp. pp. 188-9).

  3. 63

    unknown_45 380x610.jpg
    380 x >610 mm

    Description: 'Dutch' style; arched rectangular central panel, bead edging, a partially clothed female figure holding a wreath in her left hand and a bunch of flowers in her right hand, a circlet of cloth hanging from her right shoulder; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging and floral swags suspended; on top, flowers and swirled foliage.

    Notes: The figure is an allegorical representation of Agriculture, one of the Iconologia originally published by Cesare Ripa in 1613. A damaged recasting is in Farnham Museum. The 'W' initial probably denotes the pattern maker.

    Inscription: W

    Manufactured: in the late-17th to early-18th century in England.

    Current location: not known.

  4. 865

    unknown_47 760x710.jpg
    760 x ?710 mm

    Description: Arched rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); central date at bottom of arch.

    Inscription: 1670

    Manufactured: in 1670 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  5. 877

    unknown_56 pollen arms 580x570.jpg
    580 x 570 mm

    Description: Low arched rectangle; astragal and stepped fillet edging; slanted shield, helm and mantling; crest missing; at bottom, date split either side of shield.

    Notes: The arms are of the Pollen family of Redenham, Hampshire; blazon: azure, on a bend cotised or between six lozenges argent each charged with an escallop sable, five escallops vert.

    Inscription: 19 27

    Arms: Pollen of Andover, Hampshire

    Manufactured: in 1927 in England.

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Fox-Davies, A. C., 1929, Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour (London, Hurst & Blackett).

  6. 904

    unknown_63 560x810.jpg
    560 x 810 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with five-bead and open pellet edging; pictorial: regal figure in his chariot drawn by two horses, a sceptre in his right hand; above, a putto descends from swagged curtains and a pair of tassels; below is a landscape with a cornucopia; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, a scallop shell top centre with symmetrical arrangement of ivy and acanthus leaves and tendrils; the initial, N, in a cartouche bottom centre, between symmetrical oak fronds, leaves and acorns; above is a symmetrical design of scrolled floral tendrils terminating in sea monsters.

    Notes: Very similar in design and execution to firebacks of the SHR and EB series, suggesting designs emanating from the same source and with a similar inspiration. The figure in the chariot may be an allegory of the Sun.

    Inscription: N

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

    Current location: not known.

  7. 905

    unknown_64 762x838.jpg
    762 x 838 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; fillet edging (top and sides); date to full width across centre of plate.

    Notes: Bold, evenly-spaced numerals.

    Inscription: 1680

    Manufactured: in 1680 in England.

    Current location: in private hands, Vauxhall, London, England.

  8. 253

    unknown_65 762 x 686.jpg
    762 x 686 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto moulded edging; garter enclosing Stuart royal arms, with supporters, crown and motto; date split either side of garter buckle; rectangular extension panel at bottom.

    Notes: An altered casting from a 1641 original (no. 445), the last part of the date having disproportionate numerals; often copied. From the detail of the relief, probably an early casting.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: C R / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 64 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in 1664 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

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

  9. 1054

    unknown_69_vernon_895x864a.jpg
    895 x 864 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; chamfered edging; 'renaissance' style shield with floriate decoration; incised heraldic design.

    Notes: The arms are of Sir John Herbert Vernon Bt. impaling those of his wife, Elizabeth Bagnall; Blazon: (Vernon) Or, on a fess azure between two crosses moline gules three garbs of the field, a canton of a baronet; (Bagnall) Ermine, two bars or, over all a lion rampant azure. The fireback dates from between 1919, when Sir John inherited the baronetcy and his death in 1933.

    Arms: Vernon impaling Bagnall

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

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Fox-Davies, A. C., 1929, Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour (London, Hurst & Blackett).

  10. 956

    unknown_75.jpg
    991 x 619 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging; date along the top; initials in triad across the middle; fleur-de-lys stamp repeated eight times down each side, pointing to the side or up in the order (from the top): side (2), then alternately, up first.

    Notes: The initials probably represent those of a married couple, the 'H' for their surname; it is unusual for twisted rope edging to continue along the bottom of the plate.

    Inscription: 1626 / RHL

    Manufactured: in 1626 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: not known.