Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangle with crude scalloping around the edges; elaborate, symmetrical strapwork frame with scrolls top left and right, and below, a bunch of grapes hanging from the top, and the head and forelegs of a goat climbing through; inside each upper scroll, a small astragel edged oval.

Notes: This strap-work stamp, characteristic of late-16th and early-17th century architectural drawings and engravings and derivative of the work of artists like Hans Vredeman de Vries, was probably derived from interior carving on a fireplace overmantel or similar. The goat and bunch of grapes suggest an allusion to Bacchus. Marks round the edge of this fireback suggest that it may have been reduced from a larger size.