Firebacks

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

Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with solid and hollow bead on fillet edging, grouped alternately in threes and twos respectively, on a wide fillet; on a Tuscan pedestal rising from waves, a narrow waisted, gadrooned flower vase with two scrolled handles and a horizontal banded decoration from which issue tendrils bearing flowers, berries and seed pods; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, wide at the sides, symmetrical floral fronds descending from a scallop shell, top centre, with a scallop shell inside each shoulder; at base, date split between two looped 'W' figures; on top, symmetrical scrolled plant tendrils descending from a central scallop shell.

Notes: The third largest of five flower vase firebacks designed and made in the same year, larger ones of which include a religious inscription in Welsh. All incorporate the looped 'W' motif which may be intended to identify the pattern maker.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 17 24

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

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.

Inscription: HONY SOYT QVI MAL Y PENSE / G P

Arms: Tudor royal

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]