Firebacks

Edging: none

80 results

  1. 535

    pet-m-89.jpg
    575 x 731 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; no edging; raised central square surmounted by Royal Arms of Great Britain and Ireland, with Garter, crown and lion and unicorn supporters; surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped, twisted floral wreath, within which the inscription is printed in capitals. Above the arms a raised rectangular fillet is surmounted by two suspended floral swags, one above the other, comprising roses and oak apples. On each side of the fillet are two Tudor roses, one above the other.

    Notes: Dated to between 1714 and 1801. The inscription is the visible part of an abbreviated version of the formal title of the monarch, ‘By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lünenburg, Arch Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire’.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: MAG BRIT FRA ET HIB REX F D BRUN ET LUN DUX / HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE

    Arms: English Hanoverian royal

    Manufactured: in the 18th century in England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/89 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

  2. 1065

    ripley_067.jpg
    510 x 680 mm

    Description: Rectangular; no edging; rough background with 'incised' inscription across top in archaic lettering; central crowned male figure, in Saxon costume, standing astride and facing right, holding a battleaxe to his right in both hands; behind him to the right, a figure wearing a Norman-style helmet with nasal guard, advancing, with a shield, and a sword in his right hand; behind the central figure and to his right, a fallen figure with a circular shield covering him; below, the face of another fallen figure, also wearing a Norman helmet.

    Notes: A dramatic pictorial fireback commemorating the Battle of Hastings. The pattern may have been made of a sculpted medium, such as clay.

    Inscription: HAROLD REX

    Manufactured: in the 20th century in England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, Salehurst, East Sussex, England.

  3. 660

    rolvenden,_hole park 03.jpg
    840 x 500 mm

    Description: Rectangular; plain plate; central, vertical cross-hilt dagger stamp; left side, fleur de lys stamp repeated five times, irregularly arranged in three rows, two above and below and one in the middle; right side, fleur de lys stamp repeated six times, four in a star above two in a row.

    Notes: The dagger (length approx. 35cm), seen on two other firebacks (no. 595 and no. 1100), may have beeen of Italian manufacture. The form of the fleurs-de-lys identifies this fireback as one of the ‘Royal’ series, a large group bearing heraldic stamps.

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

    Current location: Hole Park, Rolvenden, Kent, England.

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

  4. 976

    rudry,_cefnmabli.jpg
    ? x ? mm

    Description: Plain rectangular plate with detached pediment; central shield with motto scroll below.

    Notes: The severe classical form suggests that this back may have been intended for attaching to a grate. Blazon: Tynte - Gules, a lion couchant between six cross-crosslets Argent; Kemeys - Vert, on a chevron Argent three pheons Sable.

    Inscription: DYW DY RAS

    Arms: Tynte quartering Kemeys

    Manufactured: in the 18th century in Wales.

    Current location: Cefnmabli, Rudry, Glamorgan, Wales.

    Citation: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, 1981, An Inventory of Ancient Monuments of Glamorgan Vol IV Part 1: Domestic Architecture from the Reformation to the Industrial Revolution: the Greater Houses (Cardiff, HMSO).

  5. 675

    saffron_walden museum 03.jpg
    302 x 470 mm

    Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; centre, fluted flower vase containing a variety of flowers, with a plant growing on each side, all within an arched rectangular bead-and-pellet border with looped top corners; on each side, a festoon of bell flowers, with a putto blowing a trumpet above; over each of their heads a single rose; top centre, a sunburst; bottom, an animal’s face between mirrored swirled foliage.

    Notes: One of a small group of firebacks with similar outlines.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the early to mid 18th century in England.

    Current location: Saffron Walden Museum, Saffron Walden, Essex, England.

    Museum number: 1897-03 (part of the Saffron Walden Museum museum group)

  6. 690

    smallhythe_place.jpg
    1280 x 470 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; plain edges; broad horizontal fillet dividing the plate in two just above the side angles, with vertical fillets to top corners enclosing date and initials.

    Notes: Uncharacteristically crude for the period.

    Inscription: IS / 16 60

    Manufactured: in 1660 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Smallhythe Place, Small Hythe Road, Tenterden, Kent, England.

    Museum number: 1117951 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

  7. 892

    sothebys_08-11-06 1910mm x 590mm.jpg
    910 x 590 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; plain edging with inset ?leather strap twisted round dowel (top and sides); top centre, date probably in stamped numerals; twisted leather strap saltire repeated three times across middle of plate; pair of stamped initials, formed of a Roman 'W' and a Gothic 'd', above each outer saltire.

    Notes: Sotheby's sale London 27 November 2006, lot 324; formerly at Brunger, Kent (near Tenterden).

    Inscription: 1610 / WD WD

    Manufactured: in 1610 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  8. 1167

    tennants_auctioneers_20_mar_2015_lot_781.jpg
    700 x ~435 mm

    Description: Canted quasi-rectangular shape; no edging; parallel with top edge, initials in triad to left, separated from date by a small, ill-defined flower stamp.

    Notes: The serifed character set is boldly impressed, although the S is indistinct, suggesting that some of the moulding sand may have filled the impression before casting. The indentations on each side were cut to accommodate mouldings. Tennants Auctioneers sale, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, 20 March 2015, lot 781.

    Inscription: ISM [triad] 1611

    Manufactured: in 1611 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  9. 1089

    ticehurst,_authentic reclamation 02.jpg
    850 x 505 mm

    Description: Canted quasi-rectangular shape with no edging; straight length of ?dowel placed parallel to top and to each side; square stamp with fillet edge and four diagonally quartered squares repeated five times, three rotated with sides 45 degrees to the vertical in top corners and slightly left of lower centre, and two, unrotated, repeated twice in bottom corners.

    Notes: The square stamps may be pastry moulds.

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

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

  10. 1109

    tottenhill,_the antiques emporium a.jpg
    940 x 527 mm

    Description: Rectangular; plain edging; asymmetrical arrangement of stamps: top right, three 'renaissance' style shield stamps with a 'PL' monogram above two [?]bougets, in a triangular arrangement bases uppermost; top centre, a shield, indented at the top, charged with a bird upon a branch; top left, crowned shield of France Modern between two inverted 'PL' monogram shields above a bird shield; to the right, a broad bladed dagger, point uppermost.

    Notes: The dagger is of the cinquedea style, introduced from Italy in the early-16th century, length approx. 38cm; the bird shield stamp has been seen on other firebacks. Wilkinson's Auctioneers, Doncaster, 24 Feb 2019, lot 534 (£650).

    Inscription: PL [in five shields]

    Arms: 'France Modern'

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

    Current location:, not known.