Firebacks

Edging: rope

232 results

  1. 450

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 090.jpg
    1067 x 622 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; central crowned Tudor shield with lion passant guardant sinister to the left, and lion passant to right; four-petalled rose in right and left corners; crowned, barbed, four-petalled rose below shield.

    Notes: One of a large series bearing some or all of the same stamps.

    Arms: Tudor royal arms of England

    Manufactured: in the mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Barbican House, High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.800 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

    Citation: Dawson, C., 1903, 'Sussex Iron Work and Pottery', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, pp. 1-54.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2022, 'A Tudor Fireback Stamp: the progressive deterioration of its condition as evidence of the relative age of castings', Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, 27, pp. 42-5.

  2. 451

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 091.jpg
    1820 x 630 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); basic arrangement of crowned Tudor rose above a crowned Tudor royal shield, all between a crowned lion passant guardant sinister and lion passant, both per bend, repeated on both halves of the plate; irregularly arranged, mainly along the top and bottom, are sixteen small figures, alternately with right arm raised or lowered; bottom left and centre right are two different arrangements of a length of twisted rope in 'V' and 'I'.

    Notes: The stamps used on this large fireback are encountered on several firebacks indicating their common source; previously at Legh Manor, Cuckfield, Sussex.

    Arms: Tudor royal arms of England

    Manufactured: in the mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.937 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2012, 'Pre-Restoration Iron Firebacks', Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, 20, pp. 2-15.

    Citation: Schubert, H. R., 1957, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry (London, Routledge), pp. 256-264.

  3. 453

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 093.jpg
    >520 x 525 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; irregular arrangement of three rope lengths at top left; rope cross above ‘V’ at middle bottom; impression of a pair of scissors between two impressions of a domestic table knife.

    Notes: The knife is early-17th century in date or perhaps a bit earlier, just into Elizabeth I’s reign. The pommels date them from around this time and the long and narrow blades are right for the end of Elizabeth/early James I. The irregular rope lengths suggest this is probably part of a larger fireback.

    Manufactured: in the late-16th to early-17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.939 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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

    Citation: Moore, S., 1999, Cutlery for the Table (Sheffield, The Hallamshire Press).

  4. 455

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 095a.jpg
    800 x 490 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); a rope saltire in each top corner.

    Notes: The edging is made from the same, short lengths of rope as the saltires.

    Manufactured: in the 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Hall Place, Bexley, Kent, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.049 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

    Citation: Easton, T. & Hodgkinson, J. S., 2013, 'Apotropaic Symbols on Cast-Iron Firebacks', Jnl. of the Antique Metalware Soc., 21, pp. 14-33.

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

  5. 461

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 103.jpg
    690 x 615 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging; irregularly spaced, 5 x 5 rope grid; damage to top right corner.

    Notes: A 5 x 3 variant is also known.

    Manufactured: in the mid- to late-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.046 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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

  6. 1048

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 107.jpg
    607 x 413 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); two saltires formed of twisted rope irregularly arranged.

    Notes: The small size suggests a 17th rather than a 16th century date. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Manufactured: in the late-16th to early-17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.919 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  7. 1046

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 108.jpg
    795 x 440 mm

    Description: Sub-rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); two crosses between two saltires, all formed of straight lengths of twisted rope and irregularly arranged.

    Notes: A poorly cast, and probably early, fireback. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.917 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  8. 945

    lindfield,_woodsland farm 01.jpg
    785 x 590 mm

    Description: Rectangular with two-stepped top; twisted rope edging (top and sides) formed of short rope sections, with top vertical sections extending down beyond the join with the next horizontal section; top centre, stamp formed of a talbot statant guardant upon a wreath; date separated by crest stamp; initials below and separated by date.

    Notes: The talbot crest has been seen on other firebacks indicating a common source.

    Inscription: 16 21 / R T

    Manufactured: in 1621 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Lindfield, West Sussex, England.

  9. 946

    lindfield,_woodsland farm 02.jpg
    832 x 500 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); initials in triad to left of date (7 reversed), all between two twisted rope saltires.

    Notes: The distinctive form of the number '5' has been seen on another fireback indicating a common source.

    Inscription: RAE [triad] 1657

    Manufactured: in 1657 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Lindfield, West Sussex, England.

  10. 463

    little_horsted, college farm 01.jpg
    >820 x 620 mm

    Description: Fragment; rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and side); top centre, crowned Tudor royal shield (over-pressed) above a crowned shield (over-pressed) bearing initials above a fleur-de-lys; to left, a leopard passant guardant sinister diagonally position with its rear toward the bottom left corner; to right, a leopard passant, also diagonally positioned, its rear towards the bottom right; in the top corners, a crowned four-petalled rose (over-pressed); below the left rose, a left-directed ‘imp’ figure looking right, its arms lowered; bottom right, a left-directed ‘imp’ figure, its left arm raised; to right of the lower shield, a four-petalled rose askew.

    Notes: One of the ‘Royal’ series.

    Arms: Tudor royal arms of England

    Manufactured: in the mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Little Horsted, East Sussex, England.