Firebacks

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: Arched rectangular shape; probable ovolo-moulded edging; Stuart royal arms of England (quarterly, 1st and 4th, France and England, 2nd Scotland and 3rd Ireland) with garter, crown, crest, motto and supporters.

Notes: A poor recasting, obscuring most of the detail.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: [illegible]

Arms: English Stuart royal

Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead-and-pellet edging on a broad fillet; pictorial scene of a figure in a chariot drawn by birds, above a ground, and with clouds over; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; alternating acanthus leaves with symmetrical curled lines, monogram centre bottom; on top, two mirrored sea serpents; extension panels to each side.

Notes: The figure is that of Jupiter, holding a bolt of lightning, who is sometimes portrayed in a chariot drawn by eagles; width without extension panels - 477mm.

Inscription: [?]WH

Description: Arched rectangular shape with semi-circular protrusions at the sides; cavetto-moulded edging; a pheon (a downward-pointing arrow head barbed on the inner edge) within a wreath, an earl’s coronet above; the date on either side of the coronet; the initials on left and right sides; a fleur de lys in each bottom corner.

Notes: The detail of the wreath differs from that on the 1626 plate.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 30 / R L

Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging; English royal Stuart shield, garter, crown, supporters and motto; initials split by crown.

Notes: The arches of the crown are not typically English in form, suggesting a possibly continental pattern-maker.

Inscription: C R / HONI SOIT QVI MAL ...PEN...

Arms: English Stuart royal