Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); in arch; rose and crown with dragon and lion supporters, above a fleur cross and a crowned shield bearing a small fleur-de-lys; text across top half, each word separated by two fleur terminals; lower left and right, twice repeated eight-pointed star design formed of twisted rope with fleur-de-lys terminals; bottom left, ‘I’; bottom right, ‘A’.

Notes: A James Hide married Joan Blackfane at Horley, Surrey on 11th October 1579; illustrated in Lower, 1849 p. 217; formerly at Sutton Hurst, Barcombe, Sussex. One of a series of distinctive firebacks cast in 1582, most with inscriptions relating to individuals.

Inscription: THES : IS FOR IAMES : / HIDE : AND : ION : HIS : WIF [W inverted] / 1582 / I A

Description: Arched rectangular shape; rope edging (top and sides); Tudor royal shield, garter, crown and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); date split by crown; lower right, initial formed of twisted rope with fleur-de-lys terminals; small fleur-de-lys stamp repeated 14 times across top edge and arch; fleur-de-lys cross repeated six times across lower part of plate.

Notes: Identical arms can be seen on at least two other firebacks; minor variations in the position of individual elements indicate that the garter and shield, crown, and each supporter were separately stamped. The lack of definition in the decoration suggests that this is a recast plate.

Inscription: 1595 / I H

Arms: Tudor royal - Elizabeth I

Description: Rectangular; rope edging (top & sides); in centre, Tudor shield, garter, crown and supporters (greyhound and lion); date top left.

Notes: The armorial achievement is seen on other firebacks and was formed from four separate stamps (one example has the shield and garter inverted); the supporters are consistent with the date; the style of the numerals is uncharacteristic of the period. The same date in identical form is on a similar fireback at Groombridge Place, Speldhurst, Kent.

Inscription: 1579 / HONE SOVT qVEY MAL Y PENSE

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arched rectangular shape with rounded corners; ovolo within fillet moulding all round; oval Tudor royal shield with garter surrounding, topped with a royal crown; dragon and greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; two rectangular side panels, each with a bird stamp above a vine strip stamp repeated three times vertically.

Notes: One of two known variants of the John Harvo fireback incorporating extension panels with vine strips and 'swans'; the positions of the swans vary slightly between the two variants.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: E R / HONY SOIT QUE MAL Y PAYNCE / Made in Sussex by John Harvo / DU ET MOUN DROI

Arms: Tudor royal - prob. Edward VI

Description: Rectangular; fillet edging (top and sides, except c.100mm at bottom of each side); arrangement of a circular butter print with fleur de lys design, repeated four times: one in each top corner, and two evenly spaced across the middle of the plate; a single circular butter print stamp with a heart-shaped design in the middle top position.

Notes: The fleur de lys stamp can also be seen on a fireback at Nymans, Handcross; one of the Pounsley series of firebacks.

Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); Tudor royal shield within a Garter, supported by lion and dragon stamps, a crown above, between separate ‘E’ and ‘R’ stamps; fleur de lys stamp irregularly repeated four times below right and to left of lion.

Notes: The shield, garter and crown stamps appear on many firebacks, usually with left-facing lion and greyhound supporters; the presence of the shield and crown indicate the fireback is derived from the same source; the supporter stamps, which are over-pressed, are clearly derived from blocks intended to represent standing models. Formerly at Kirby Frith Hall, Leicestershire. Illustration from Schubert, 1957, pl. 7.

Inscription: HONE SOYT qVEY MAL Y PENSE

Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI or Elizabeth I

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); central Tudor royal shield with encircling garter (motto reversed), separate greyhound and lion supporters, separate crown; rectangular bordered stamp with an animal facing to the right, repeated once above and on each side of the armorial; bold fleur-de-lys stamp repeated once on each side of the armorial below the other stamp; all irregularly positioned.

Notes: The armorial and fleurs-de-lys are seen together on a plate at Alfriston Clergy House; the animal stamp may be the same as on a 1642 Pelham buckle fireback.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Tudor royal (prob. Henry VIII

Description: Arched rectangular shaped, topped with a triangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); inverted Tudor royal shield and Garter, crown above, greyhound and lion supporters (see example at Alfriston Clergy House). Two horizontal planklines.

Notes: A uniquely shaped fireback, the inverted shield and Garter indicate that they formed a separate stamp from the crown; other firebacks with these stamps have the shield and Garter the correct way round. A frequently copied fireback; a larger version has a bottom extension.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONE SOVT QUEY MAL Y PENSE

Arms: Tudor royal (prob.Henry VIII)

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); approximately symmetrical repeated arrangement of stamps formed of Gothic tracery cresting (5 - 3 & 2), fleurs de lys (11), butter mould stamps (3), crowned butter mould stamps (3), and rope patterns, with rope pieces in zig-zag on left side, and individually across middle.

Notes: Many of the stamps employed on this fireback are seen, with other stamps, on a wide variety of firebacks, suggesting a common source; similar gothic tracery cresting can be seen as pierced cresting on a rare late-Medieval, wooden Easter sepulchre at the redundant church of St Michael at Cowthorpe, North Yorkshire. A similar fireback is at Anne of Cleves House, Lewes. Correspondence with stamps used on side panels cast with other examples point to this fireback being possibly cast at Pounsley Furnace, Sussex. Christie's auction, 24 May 2001.

Description: Arched rectangular shape with rounded corners; ovolo within fillet moulding all round; oval Tudor royal shield with garter surrounding, topped with a royal crown; dragon and greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; two rectangular side panels, each with a bird stamp above a vine strip stamp repeated three times vertically.

Notes: One of two known variants of the John Harvo fireback incorporating extension panels with vine strips and 'swans'; the positions of the swans vary slightly between the two variants.

Inscription: E R / HONY SOIT QUE MAL Y PAYNCE

Arms: Tudor royal - prob. Edward VI