Firebacks

Edging: fillet

237 results

  1. 1143

    soudley,_dean heritage centre 03a.jpg
    >675 x >915 mm

    Description: Fragment, left side missing; arched rectangular shape; fillet edging (top and sides visible); initials IG widely spaced in arch.

    Notes: Previously at Bream Court Farm, Newland, Gloucestershire.

    Inscription: I G

    Manufactured: in the 17th century possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Dean Heritage Centre, Camp Mill, Soudley, Gloucestershire, England.

    Citation: Mullin, D., 1989, 'Two Firebacks', The New Regard, Forest of Dean Local History Society, 5, pp. 47-50.

  2. 1079

    stoke-on-trent,_ford green hall.jpg
    ?610 x ?560 mm

    Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shape; fillet edging, indented on the inner edge; pictorial representation of a phoenix rising from flames, date split either side of its neck; the lateral edges are wide in relation to the top, from which the arch rises from two loop and is surmounted by a fleur-de-lys; above each shoulder of the plate, a roundel.

    Notes: The looped fillet edging is rarely seen and does not seem to be diagnostic of a particular pattern-maker.

    Inscription: 16 77

    Manufactured: in 1677 possibly in the Staffordshire area of England.

    Current location: Ford Green Hall, Ford Green Road, Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

    (part of the Stoke-on-Trent Museums museum group)

  3. 695

    stratford,_nashs house 02.jpg
    ? x ? mm

    Description: Rectangular; fillet edging (top and sides only); top centre, date formed of individual letter stamps; below date, initials carved as single stamp, overstamped and showing v-shaped extension below.

    Notes: The reason for the unusual shape of the base of the initial stamp is not understood.

    Inscription: 1616 / WC

    Manufactured: in 1616 in England.

    Current location: Nash's House, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

    (part of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust museum group)

  4. 696

    stratford,_nashs house 03a.jpg
    ? x ? mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with nutshell edging on a broad fillet; pictorial scene of a standing, winged male figure draped with a cloth, holding a staff in his left hand, above a ground, and with drapery over; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; alternating acanthus leaves with swirled tendrils; on top, two mirrored sea serpents.

    Notes: Presumably intended to represent an angel; similarities in the design and execution of the pattern suggest the work of the pattern-maker identified as ‘N’ (q.v.); the missing segment had been filled with a piece from another fireback (removed in this photo).

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: Nash's House, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

    (part of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust museum group)

  5. 698

    sulgrave_manor.jpg
    483 x 762 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with nutshell 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 swirled tendrils; on top, two mirrored sea serpents.

    Notes: Similarities in the design and execution of the pattern suggest the work of the pattern-maker identified as ‘N’.

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: Sulgrave Manor, Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England.

  6. 860

    terry_sparks 02a.jpg
    695 x 490 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; fillet edging (top and sides); top centre, initials, above date, between repeated fleur-de-lys stamp; from top corners to bottom corners, repeated V-shape pattern formed of stamped short fillets, with an L-shape inserted between the top two Vs on each side.

    Notes: The fleurs de lys are of a distinctive style seen on a small group of firebacks.

    Inscription: RH / 1662

    Manufactured: in 1662 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  7. 1224

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_09_400x650.jpg
    400 x 650 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with canted, concave top corners and bead edging; naked, crowned figure of Neptune holding a trident in his right hand, standing amid waves and with two hippocampi to his right; same-shaped border with fillet edging and suspended ribbons with floral bunches; at base, symmetrical reeds tied with ribbon; base panel with nine linked rings; symmetrical serpents on top.

    Notes: Other firebacks have the same distinctive central panel and border shape, suggesting the same pattern maker.

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  8. 1130

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_11_465x740.jpg
    465 x 740 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with helical ribbon edging; pictorial image of a partially clothed female figure, holding an upraised wreath in her left hand and a garland in her right hand, standing on a ground, with a gadrooned vase containing flowers and leaves to the right and, above, swagged drapery; arched rectangular fillet border with descending leaves and flowers suspended from a wreath, top centre, and a wreath in each top corner; on top, mirrored swirled fronds terminating in the heads of sea monsters; bottom, vestiges of SHR monogram otherwise all decoration obliterated by fire damage.

    Notes: The figure is an allegorical representation of Agriculture, one of the Iconologia originally published by Cesare Ripa in 1613.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

  9. 1257

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_12_910x760.jpg
    910 x 760 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape, edged with simulated twisted rope between two fillets; in the arch, a shield: argent on a chevron gules three roses of the field, a canton gules for difference; beneath the shield a crest: on a wreath a squirrel sejant gules cracking a nut gules, charged on the shoulder with a cross crosslet gold for difference; inscription split either side of the head of the squirrel.

    Notes: A finely modelled and cast modern fireback with the arms and crest of a direct descendant of John Davies Gilbert (1811-54) who had played a major role in the development of the town of Eastbourne and also developed Trelissick Garden in Feock, Cornwall.

    Inscription: A.D. 1969

    Arms: Gilbert, of Eastbourne, Sussex, and Trelissick, Cornwall

    Manufactured: in 1969 in England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

  10. 1297

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_14.jpg
    310 x 530 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with bead-on-fillet edging; a peacock, facing right, standing on a plinth, with foliage to the left and clouds above; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, symmetrical floral fronds descending from a scallop shell, top centre, with a scallop shell inside each shoulder; at base, detail mostly obscured by corrosion but the numerals '17 24' are faintly visible in the bottom corners; on top, a pair of mirrored, stylised sea serpents with a central arrangement of foliage.

    Notes: The image of the peacock may be an adaptation of an engraving (1654-62) by Wenceslaus Hollar, after Francis Barlow, in which a peacock also stands on a plinth. The small size of this fireback makes it likely that it was intended to be fixed to the back of a grate. A copy of a fireback of this design features in Gleanings from Old English Firesides by Arthur Todhunter.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 17 24

    Manufactured: in 1724 in England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Todhunter, A., c.1910, Gleanings from Old English Firesides (New York, Arthur Todhunter), p. 3.