Firebacks

Manufactured in England

883 results

  1. 254

    wrangle,_youngs_antiques_a.jpg
    910 x 815 mm

    Description: Curved ogee-arched rectangular with egg and dart moulding along top, supported by Ionic pilasters; English Stuart royal shield, garter, helm, crown, motto and supporters; date below and either side of garter.

    Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches. A casting of this design serves as a royal armorial in St Lawrence's church, Bigbury, Devon.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONI + SOIT + QVI + MAL + Y + PENSE / 16 18

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Forest of Dean 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).

    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.

  2. 1008

    wye_college.jpg
    1230 x 730 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and (probably both) sides; cavetto-moulded-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 13 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows (5-4-4), the bottom row having a gap between the middle pair of shields; 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. About 110mm of the left side has broken off suggesting an original width of 1340mm. 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.

    Inscription: C 1610 T

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

    Manufactured: in 1610 possibly at Bedgebury Furnace, Goudhurst in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Wye College, High Street, Wye, Kent, England.

    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.

  3. 805

    yapton_metal co.jpg
    760 x 510 mm

    Description: Rectangular with canted top corners; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, date formed from a single stamp, over-pressed; monogram below date.

    Notes: Dates formed from a single stamp are uncommon, this series being distinguished by this practice.

    Inscription: 1632 / HPE

    Manufactured: in 1632 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Yapton Metal Co., Yapton, West Sussex, England.

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