Firebacks

Description: Rectangular with arched rectangular shaped top joined by cavetto curves; astragal edging; shield, supporters, ducal coronet, motto and garter of the Duke of Dorset: Quarterly, Or and gules, a bend vair.

Notes: Almost certainly the arms of Lionel Sackville KG (1688-1765), created first duke of Dorset in 1720; many different firebacks exist, all with precisely the same armorial stamp.

Inscription: [around shield] HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE / [on motto scroll] AUT NUNQUAM TENTES, AUT PERFICE

Arms: Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging; central, two handled, gadrooned vase with swirled, fruited vines issuing from the neck, and a bird on each side perched within the vines; out of the neck, a naïve human figure with arms outstretched, grasping vines on each side.

Notes: The figure emerging from the vase has a symbolism which has yet to be explained; more than one version of this fireback exists.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Description: Quasi-arched shape with forward-facing 'wings', which splay outwards towards the base where each has been pierced with a small hole as if to insert a rod from one side to the other; the 'wings' curve to follow the shape of the main panel but curl outwards at the top; central panel with stylised tree decoration surmounted with a crown between two inward-facing animals, possibly a lion and unicorn; beneath the tree, a partially illegible inscription in relief.

Notes: This unusual casting was probably formed in an open box mould. Only a very small number of such castings are known. Depth 200mm. A similar fireback, noted at Poynings in Sussex, was illustrated in The Connoisseur, vol 41 (April 1915), p. 221; it too had a crown supported by a lion and unicorn on the top, and a tree with an illegible inscription below.

Inscription: SYLVESTR..[illegible]

Description: Rectangular panel with moulded edging (top and sides); two joined guilloche arches with bracket ends and floral designs in the spandrels; above, pediment with dentil edging, between teardrop pinnacles; date in bottom centre of pediment; possible initials below and between arches.

Notes: The pattern has been formed from, or in imitation of, the upper part of the back of a joined 'wainscot' chair with an inserted date and possible inserted initials

Inscription: 1661 / [?W] [?H]

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; top centre, quartered shield between four 'imp' figures, left facing, one with right arm raised, one of each on each side; below each pair of figures, a rope cross above an inverted V in rope, with an 'imp' figure, arms lowered, below the shield; along the bottom, eight 'imp' figures, alternately arms raised and lowered.

Notes: The 'imp' figures are common on a group of firebacks, the rope designs having a probable apotropaic significance. The arms are probably of Thomas Wriothesley, who was Henry VIII's last Lord Chancellor and created Earl of Southampton in 1547; he married c.1533 so the arms could date to before then, but the same arms are displayed on his enamelled stall plate in St George's Chapel, Windsor, of 1545, and in stained glass in a window in the parish church at South Warnborough, Hampshire. The shield is, quarterly, 1. Wrythe or Wriothesley quartering Dunstanville and Pink, 2. Drayton, 3. Crocker and 4. Peckham. The same armorial stamp has been noted on at least two other firebacks. A candidate for the earliest English fireback with an example of personal arms.

Arms: Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton)

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre; crowned Tudor royal shield with angled lion passant guardant sinister to the left, and an angled lion passant to the right; below, a crowned shield with a fleur-de-lys below initials (over-pressed), between two four-petalled, crowned roses; the same crowned rose repeated in each top corner, below each a vertical dagger, point upwards; inside the roses and daggers, two tiered pairs of ‘imp’ figures, one of each with arm raised, above a single figure, its arms lowered.

Notes: Each dagger, which is seen on two other firebacks (no. 660 and no. 1100), is approx. 35cm long.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: KH

Arms: Tudor royal arms of England

Description: Canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, date formed of individual numerals.

Notes: The '1' has a central button, typical of the period, or of a little earlier. Formerly at Padley Hall, Derbyshire. Wilkinson's, Doncaster, auction 24 Apr 2016 lot 317.

Inscription: 1670

Description: Canted rectangular shape; astragal edging with repeated fleurs-de-lys inside top and side edges; figure of St George impaling a dragon to the left with a lance over an undulating ground, with a kneeling figure above a sheep to the right.

Notes: The mould for this unusual fireback may have been formed using a redundant carved, medieval wooden panel, perhaps from a church. Wilkinson's Auctioneers, Doncaster, 24 June 2018, lot 132.

Description: Arched rectangular shape with small triangular protrusions in each top corner; fillet edging (top and sides); top centre, date stamp, over-pressed on right side; top corners, single fleur-de-lys stamp; below date, initials in triad.

Notes: The fleur-de-lys is of a distinctive form; the small triangular protrusions are not seen on other firebacks. Wilkinson's, Doncaster, auction 26 Feb 2017 lot 272. A fireback with the same date stamp is at Newark Park, Ozleworth, Gloucestershire.

Inscription: 1634 / RCS [triad]

Description: Quasi-rectangular with canted top corners; twisted rope edging (top and sides); centre top, quartered shield between two vertical carved stamps of a billet with five oval shapes.

Notes: The arms are probably of Thomas Wriothesley, who was Henry VIII's last Lord Chancellor and created Earl of Southampton in 1547; he married c.1533 so the arms could date to before then, but the same arms are displayed on his enamelled stall plate in St George's Chapel, Windsor, of 1545, and in stained glass in a window in the parish church at South Warnborough, Hampshire. The shield is, quarterly, 1. Wrythe or Wriothesley quartering Dunstanville and Pink, 2. Drayton, 3. Crocker and 4. Peckham. A candidate for the earliest English fireback with an example of personal arms. It is possible that this casting is the one formerly at Warnham Court, Sussex, which was illustrated by J. Starkie Gardner in Country Life in 1907. A similar fireback is no. 334. William Smith Auctions, Plainfield, NH, 20 Nov 2024, lot 424 ($250).

Arms: Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton)