Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; caped naked male figure standing on clouds, head turned over his right shoulder and holding a coronet of five raised baubles aloft in his right hand, on his left hand a bird perched, its wings displayed; above left a cloud; arched rectangular fillet border containing symmetrical, regularly-spaced 'daisy' flowers and festoons of leaves descending there from; on top of the arch, a central cartouche with a mirrored eagle and scrolls on each side.

Notes: The bottom panel of the border is missing, perhaps through breakage, the bottom flower on each side being incomplete and the fillet edging discontinued. The figure, which has yet to be identified, is probably iconic or mythological. The form of the arch suggests an English origin.

Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo moulded edging; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown, motto and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); plain panels at sides and bottom.

Notes: A common variant has a rose and portcullis either side of the crown, and the top of the lion's crown and the dragon's ear do not overlap the edging; without the extension panels, the approximate dimensions of the main plate are 805mm wide by 590 high. The quality of the relief indicates that this composite fireback was created using an early casting of the armorial back.

Inscription: [Garter] HONI SOIT QVI MAL E PENSE / [motto] DIEV ET MON DROIT

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); three impressions of an ornate firedog, each incorporating lion’s legs, above it a pedestal with a lion’s head, surmounted by a caryatid, a shield shaped cartouche over its lower trunk, and with a floral vase headdress. The dog impressions are not evenly stamped, the middle one lying to the right.

Notes: The firedogs are much more elaborate than those customarily used as stamps on firebacks and indicate a later date; they probably included brass elements and were possibly French.

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); irregular arrangement of four stamps in three rows: face mask with ruff (7), flower head with four petals and leaflets (4), fleur-de-lys (7), and profile of head with ‘Roman’ crest (2); initials replace stamps top left and centre.

Notes: A smaller, dated variant is at Godolphin House, Helston.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: AT nS

Description: Triple-facetted arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); bottom centre, a vertical distaff or spindle repeated twice; to each side a fillet-edged oval containing the initials S and W; above, either side of the distaffs, two more ovals perpendicular to the first two, with the date split between them; above each distaff, an oval rotated as at the bottom, the initials I T split between them; at the base, a blank rectangular panel.

Notes: An unusual shaped fireback. It was recorded by J. Starkie Gardner in one of his scrapbooks (Victoria and Albert Museum, Archive of Art and Design (AAD/2014/8)), marked '[?]Warris Westerham Kent'; subsequently it was at Skipreed, Chiddingstone Hoath, Kent.

Inscription: I T / 16 63 / S W

Description: Arched rectangular shape with canted top corners; astragal-and-fillet and cavetto moulded strip on each side, angled at top; raised central square panel bearing main inscription in sans-serif characters justified to left (2s formed like Zs); irregular arrangement of small ‘serrated’ square stamps repeated 29 times in two vertical groups of 12 on each side of the inscription panel (6 on the outside, side to side, 6 on the inside, roughly corner to corner); 2 squares, side to side, below each side of the arch, above the inscription panel; 1 square at top of arch between non-matching initials.

Notes: The inscription is the same as on the iron plate above the grave of Richard Gray in Withyham church; another fireback, said to have the same inscription, was formerly at Wolvesey Palace, Winchester, and later in Winchester Museum, but is now missing; the moulding strips are likely to have been derived from furniture. Frances Ashbie and Richard Graye's godson, Richard, the son of William Ashbie, were among the beneficiaries of Richard Graye's will and the initials, IA, on the fireback may relate to another member of that family. The fireback was noted at Sompting, near Lancing, West Sussex, in the 1820s.

Inscription: I A / ANNO·DOMINI·1582 / THE·27·DAY·OF·· / FEBRVARYE·DYED· / RICHARDE·GRAYE / PARSON·OF· · / WYTHIHAM·

Description: Rectangular; plain plate with 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.

Copies of this fireback are known.

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: Rectangular; plain plate with 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: HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE / AUT NUNQUAM TENTES, AUT PERFICE [Either do not attempt, or complete]

Arms: Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

Description: Arched rectangular shaped; astragal edging (top and sides); mainly symmetrical vine arrangement, emerging from a vase, some fronds ending in an eagle’s head, other in leaves; at top of arch, initials ‘HB’ split by date (reversed) with an additional ‘I’; below, initials ‘AIS’ (reversed).

Notes: Two planklines; ‘HB’ refers to Henry Bell, who acquired Rake Manor, Witley, in 1592. ‘AIS’ refers to Anthony Smith, his nephew and heir, and his wife, Joan (née Hore); the form of the date is confused by the addition of an ‘I’, and the somewhat clumsy arrangement of the inscription suggests that it was added to the otherwise foliate pattern priot to casting. The letter 'H' seems to belong to a different character set

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: H I0361B / AIS

Description: Rectangular shape; ogee moulded edging (top and sides); crowned falcon stamp repeated three times and spaced evenly along the top; separated initials close inside outer falcon stamps; two andiron slots.

Notes: The stamp, which was originally a badge of Queen Anne Boleyn, and first used in the letters patent of her Marquisate of Pembroke, comprises a falcon with a crown upon its head and holding a sceptre, standing upon a tree stump, from which extends a sprig of red and white roses. The badge was later adopted by Queen Elizabeth I. The probability must exist that the initials TB relate to a member of the Boleyn family.

Inscription: T B