Firebacks

Description: Cavetto-canted arched rectangular shape with rectangular extension panels; cavetto-moulded edging, with astragal on wide fillet edging on the extension panels; central panel, crown, shield and Garter of the Tudor royal arms but with crowned lion and unicorn supporters, all within an undulating vine border; extension panels comprise a single letter (W on left, H on right) above an inward-facing seated squirrel.

Notes: The royal arms are a hybrid of the Tudor and Stuart achievement, quite crudely modelled. The initials and squirrels both relate to the Holte family who lived at Aston Hall, which was built between 1618 and 1623. The difference in the condition of the armorial and the extensions suggest that the armorial was significantly older than the extensions. The bottom 190mm of the fireback is concealed below, behind the grate placed in front of it.

Inscription: W / HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE / H

Arms: English Tudor royal with Stuart lion and unicorn supporters

Description: Canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); date top centre; initials in triad in each corner.

Notes: Damage to bottom right corner. The Pedestal Auction, Cirencester, 4 Mar 2019, lot 154 (£240).

Inscription: VHE [triad] 1685 VHE [triad]

Description: Arched rectangular shaped; cavetto moulded edging; male figure in dress of the period, right hand on hip, left hand holding reins, astride a prancing horse; date and inscription (letter 'N' reversed) follow inside top edge.

Notes: Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1612-1671), commander of the New Model Army, which probably prompted the epithet, conqueror. 1649 was the year of Charles I's execution, to which Fairfax was opposed.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1649 LD FAIRFAX COVNQVIROR

Description: Rectangular with detached pediment linked by S-curves, protruding from each of which is a small scroll; cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides); quartered shield with helm, crest and mantling; initials in top corners.

Notes: The arms are of Sir Julius Caesar (1558-1636), judge and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1606-13. Blazon: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Gules, three roses argent, on a chief of the second three roses of the first (Caesar); 2nd, argent, two bars sable, on a chief of the second three swans of the first (?Martin); 3rd, gules, three crescents argent (Peryent/Perin). Crest: a dolphin embowed in the sea vert. This example has the additional initials, TC. The style of the carving is the same as on two other firebacks in the same county.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: T C

Arms: Caesar

Description: Arch-shaped, the arch consisting of eight, straight, ovolo-moulded sections; longer ovolo-moulded pieces form the lower sides of the fireback; in the centre a circular garter enclosing the Tudor arms of England; above, a crown; the date was carved on a single stamp and placed left of the crown.

Notes: From other examples it is apparent that the crown is formed from a separate stamp to the shield and garter. Formerly at Knole, Sevenoaks, and later at Horton Court Lodge, Monks Horton, Kent.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1589 / HONI SOIT qVI MAL I PANSE

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arch-shaped, the arch consisting of eight, straight, ovolo-moulded sections; longer ovolo-moulded pieces form the lower sides of the fireback; in the centre a circular garter enclosing the Tudor arms of England; above, a crown; irregularly spaced each side of the shield, a crossed staple stamp (the left one over-pressed).

Notes: The crossed staple stamp suggests a connection with the Nevill family. The crown is formed from a separate stamp to the shield and garter. Other variants are dated 1589. Recorded at Penshurst Place in 1903; illustration from Dawson 1903.

Inscription: HONI SOIT qVI MAL I PANSE

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Fragment; rectangular; flanged top edge; probable symmetrical arrangement of crowned Tudor royal shield stamps (4 above 3); vertical line on either side of each shield; left hand print in bottom left corner, probably mirrored on right.

Notes: The right side of the fireback is missing. Very crude modelling of stamp suggests an early date; the same crowned shield and use of hand print can be seen on a fireback at Rolvenden (no. 661), indicating a common source..

Description: Rectangular with triangular arch; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); small stamp of a ‘Renaissance’ shield bearing the initials IC, repeated eight times 3-2-3) in a regular arrangement.

Notes: The initials have not been identified.

Inscription: IC

Description: Rectangular with triangular arch; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); small stamp of a quartered shield with helm, crest and mantling above the date '1571, initials split either side of shield, repeated six times in two lines of three, the middle stamp of each line higher than the other two.

Notes: The arms may be of the family of Humberston quartered with another; the stamp would have been made specially for the fireback, the date and initials being carved with the arms.

Inscription: I H / 15 71 [repeated 6 times]

Arms: Humberston family

Description: Composite; arched rectangular shaped, armorial fireback, cavetto edging, with Stuart Royal arms, garter, supporters, crown and motto, and 1662 date above crown; this overlies a rectangular plate with fillet edging; top centre in the space each side of the central shield, an initial letter - A to left, B to right - each above a fleur-de-lys, its stem terminating in a small buckle.

Notes: Several firebacks have incorporated the same Stuart royal shield, which probably originally dated to 1619, but with the date altered. A similar fireback, but without the initials and fleurs-de-lys, dated 1661, and reputed to have come from the Totsey, the old guildhall at the market cross in Gloucester, is illustrated in Ames, 1980, 23; possibly the same fireback was reported by the late David Bick to be at The Grange, Minsterworth, Gloucestershire (demolished in the late 1960s).

Inscription: 16 62 / [Garter motto (illeg.)] / A B

Arms: English Stuart royal