Firebacks

800mm tall

  1. 207

    bray,_ockwells manor 01.jpg
    685 x 800 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edge; Tudor royal shield, crown, garter and supporters (dragon and greyhound). Crowned rose on left, and crowned portcullis (grid of 16) on right side of crown; the supporters stand on a horizontal fillet; date panel with ovolo-moulding on top, central putto face splitting two parts of date with faces of putti in profile at each end.

    Notes: Arms are of Edward VI. A very clear casting, almost certainly from the original pattern. There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably 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.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE / 15 48

    Arms: Tudor royal Edward VI

    Manufactured: in 1548 possibly at Eisenschmitt Furnace in the Eifel area of Germany.

    Current location: Ockwells Manor, Cox Green, Berkshire, England.

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

    Citation: Kippenberger, A. 1973, Die Kunst der Ofenplatten (Düsseldorf, Verlag Stahleisen), p. 107.

    Citation: Schubert, H. R., 1957, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry (London, Routledge), pp. 256-264.

    Citation: Schubert, H. R., Jan 1954, 'Historical Note No. 33: A Famous English Fireback of 1548', Journal of the Iron & Steel Institute, 176, p. 63.

  2. 887

    cowden,_crippenden 03.jpg
    1470 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular; stepped fillet edging (top and sides), ending short of bottom of plate; rose and crown stamp repeated three times across top of plate, with initials 'IT' followed by a rose stamp to left, and a rose stamp followed by the date to right (1 or I crossed in both cases); concentric roundel stamp between each pair of rose and crown stamps; lower down, five small fleurs-de-lys between four concentric roundels; below left, initials FED in triad; below right, FRD in triad (D reversed).

    Notes: An alleged connection with the Tichborne family who lived at Crippenden in Cowden, Kent, may be justified if the initials, IT, refer to John Tichborne, the last of his family in the village, who died in 1708. The identities of those whose initials form the two triads is not known. The style of rose and crown is similar to that used in gun founding in the Tudor period, suggesting that the furnace that was the source of this fireback may have been used for that purpose.

    Inscription: IT 1699 / EFD [triad] RFD [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1699 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Crippenden Manor, Cowden, Kent, England.

  3. 1014

    jean_bouchu 1641 780x800.jpg
    780 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular with moulded edging; shield, forward-facing helm, lion's head crest, mantling, lion supporters, and collar of the Order of St Michael

    Notes: The arms are probably those of Jean Bouchu (1597-1653), French parliamentarian: azure, a chevron between, in chief, two crescents and, in base, a lion rampant sinister or.

    Inscription: 1641

    Arms: Bouchu

    Manufactured: in 1641 in France.

    Current location: Claude Augustin Antique Materials, 104 Route Nationale 6, 69380 Les Chères, Rhone, France.

  4. 483

    maresfield,_putmans farm 03.jpg
    900 x 800 mm

    Description: Plain plate with scrolled side edges; canted arched rectangular astragal and fillet top moulding; central shield, crest and motto of the hardy family.

    Inscription: ARMEE DE FOI HARDI

    Arms: Hardy

    Manufactured: in the late 19th century at Low Moor Furnace in the Yorkshire area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Maresfield, East Sussex, England.

  5. 610

    ripley_019.jpg
    580 x 800 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with additional arch above; bead and fillet edging; pictorial scene of Solomon, rising from a scallop-backed, canopied throne, greeting the Queen of Sheba, with other figures in attendance; identical shaped border with fillet edging; on top, a cockle shell with a descending serpent on each side, and a cockle shell on each shoulder of the plate.

    Notes: Several contemporary paintings are of similar scenes; this design may have been derived from any of them.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century in the Siegerland area of Germany.

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

  6. 688

    sevenoaks,_knole 04.jpg
    1210 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular; astragal edging; in centre, shield, supporters, ducal coronet, motto and garter of the Duke of Dorset: Quarterly, Or and gules, a bend vair.

    Notes: Almost certainly the arms of Lionel Sackville KG (1688-1765), created first duke of Dorset in 1720.

    Inscription: [around shield] HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE / [on motto scroll] AUT NUNQUAM TENTES, AUT PERFICE

    Arms: Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, England.

    (part of the National Trust museum group)

  7. 711

    unknown_07 781x800.jpg
    781 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular plate with plain ovolo-moulded edging, superimposed by a fireback with, on top, arched mirrored scrolls surrounding a scallop shell, and below, a conversational scene of a man and woman seated at a small table with a soldier standing to the right and a building and servant behind to the right.

    Notes: A composite fireback presumably intended to extend the width of an existing small one; rivets repair a crack.

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

    Current location:, not known.

  8. 730

    va_05.jpg
    530 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular; flanged fillet edging; single date stampo above a pictorial scene showing the cricifixion with members of the Holy family, soldiers and onllokers surrounding the three crosses; kinscription betlow separating a separate pictorial panel illegible through corrosion; a single letter 'I' in top right corner.

    Notes: A characteristic stove-plate of the period.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1574 I / INRI / MATTEUS AM 27 CAPITEL

    Manufactured: in 1574 possibly in the Sudeifel area of Germany.

    Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, England.

    Museum number: M.126-1914 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)

    Citation: Anon., 2 Dec 1905, 'Old Kent and Sussex Fire-backs', Country Life, pp. 767-768.

    Citation: Driesch, K. von den , 1990, Handbuch der Ofen-, Kamin- und Takenplatten im Rheinland (Cologne, Rheinland-Verlag).

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

  9. 992

    westland_ltd 12668 810x800.jpg
    810 x 800 mm

    Description: Ogee-arched rectangular shape, centred by a scroll-edged cartouche enclosing a pair of armorial ovals, the left cast with a crowned lion rampant, the right with a salamander surrounded by flames, all between a pair of greyhound supporters and edged with bellflower-decorated pilasters.

    Notes: The heraldic design depicting the marriage of Paul de Chabannes (1686-1769), comte de Chabannes de Vergers, with Marie-Madeleine Sallonyer on 1st July 1715 (whose shield is a golden salamander bedded in red hot fire on a blue shield).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century in France.

    Current location:, not known.

    Citation: Palasi, P., 2014, Plaques de Cheminées Héraldiques (Paris, Éditions Gourcuff-Gradenigo).