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665
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (probably on on top and sides only); cavetto-moulded-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 14 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows (5-4-5).
Notes: Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable. William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex. There is a large number of variants using the same shields. The bottom part of the fireback is obscured in the photograph. The initials 'CT' are likely to be those of Charles Tyler, a founder whose working life and that of his family have strong parallels with the occurrence of these firebacks.
Inscription: C.1.6.0.3.T
Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- armorial
- text
Manufactured: in 1603 possibly at Bedgebury Furnace, Goudhurst in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.
Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.
- Attached to series:
- Ayloffe series
- Personal armorial firebacks
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692
Description: Rectangular with inclined sides, joined by scrolls to a pedimented top; twisted rope edging (top and sides); Garter enclosing the Tudor royal arms, with crowned lion and dragon supporters, crowned helm, and lion crest with mantling; rectangular date compartment at base; initials either side of crest.
Notes: The detached pediment is stylistically typical of the late-16th and early-17th centuries.
Inscription: E R; Garter motto; 160[?0]
Arms: Tudor royal - Elizabeth I
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular with detached pediment (shape)
- rope (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- armorial
- royal
- text
Manufactured: in 1600 in England.
Current location: Cothay Manor, Stawley, Somerset, England.
- Attached to series:
- Elizabethan royal armorial firebacks
- Tudor royal armorial firebacks
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848
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 (probably a swan, a Lancastrian badge) 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
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular with round arch (shape)
- carved pattern panels
- whole carved pattern
- extension panels
- armorial
- royal
- animals
- objects
Manufactured: in the mid- to late-16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.
Current location: not known.
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747
Description: Arch-shaped; fillet edge; Tudor shield, crown, garter (motto clockwise but reversed) and supporters. Crowned rose on dexter, and crowned portcullis (grid of 16) on sinister side of crown; the supporters, a dragon and a greyhound, stand on separate plinths; the initials, G P are placed in either side of the garter buckle.
Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably originally produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis. Part of the bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Lieut. Colonel G. B. Croft-Lyons in 1926.
Inscription: HONY SOYT QVI MAL Y PENSE / G P
Arms: Tudor royal
- Decoration tags:
- rounded arched (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- heraldic
- armorial
- royal
- text
Manufactured: in the mid-16th century possibly in the Wallonia area of Luxemburg.
Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, England.
Museum number: M.499-1926 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Tudor royal armorial firebacks
- Continental Tudor royal armorial firebacks
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94
Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo moulded edge all round; the fireback is divided, unequally, into three Old Testament scenes. Centre left: Joseph is pushed into a well shaft by one of his brothers; above, six other brothers, wearing cloaks and sober puritan hats, look on; below, one of Joseph’s brothers presents Jacob with Joseph’s coat; Joseph utters the words, ‘Ah it is my son’s coat’ in a speech bubble above. Top right: Isaac kneels on a wooden pyre; behind him, Abraham holds Isaac’s head with his left hand, and raises a cleaver above his head with his right hand; above Abraham, an angel stays his hand; to the right of Isaac a ram stands beside a bush. Bottom right: beneath a pergola Jacob lies on his deathbed; his twelve sons gather round his bed.
Notes: The scenes depicted are derived from, respectively, Genesis 38: 20-24 & 32-33, Genesis 22: 6-13, and Genesis 49. The distinctive pictorial subject, the naïve figuration, as well as a number of minor features, such as the use of an ‘S’ scroll, draw parallels with the Lenard fireback, and the pattern may have been the work of the same wood carver, suggesting that it may share the same source. Another, probably contemporary, example is at Hampton Court.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: AH IT IS MY SONES COT [Genesis 38: 33]
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular with round arch (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- pictorial
- biblical
- text
- humans
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-17th century possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Squerryes Court, Westerham, Kent, England.