Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead on fillet edging; central shield of the Dutch house of Orange impaling English royal Stuart, surmounted by a crown and supported by two putti; above, a maske with two descending grape bunches; below, two more putti seated on scrolls and cornucopiae; a drapery swag and bow in each top corner; arched rectangular border with cavetto-moulded edging and canted top corners; on each side, a Corinthian column and entablature on a pedestal, the columns with floriate decoration; below, a symmetrical swirled design; above the arch, from a scallop shell on each shoulder, two serpents rising towards a third scallop on top.

Notes: The arms are of William IV Prince of Orange (1650-1702) impaling those of his wife, Mary, Queen of Great Britain. Note, these are not the royal arms of William III and Mary II as joint sovereigns, but as Prince and Princess of Orange. William and Mary married in 1677 and Mary died in 1694, so the fireback dates from between 1689, when Mary became Queen, and 1694. A fireback of the same design with the arms of Louis XIV of France is illustrated by Elling and Winkler-Borck, p.213; it has the initials AD in the cartouche above the arch, not visible on this casting.

Arms: William of Orange

Description: Canted rectangle; astragal edging (top and sides); symmetrically arranged, initials separated by overpressed, fillet edged stamp bearing letters WF surmounted by a bent arm holding a battleaxe issuing from a chapeau; beneath are two shields bearing the arms of Fowle.

Notes: The shield and crest stamps relate to William Fowle (1568-1634) and are those used on iron grave slabs in Wadhurst and Frant churches and in Maidstone museum, as well as on other firebacks. The initials have not been identified. Another casting with the same set of initials, but in a slightly different arrangement, has been noted (no. 68), and Christy (1908 p.386) reported on another with slots for two firedogs.

Inscription: EC DT / WF

Arms: William Fowle, of Frant and Wadhurst

Description: Low arched rectangular shape; broad rebated fillet edging; stylised Tudor royal shield, crown and supporters (dragon and greyhound); Tudor rose in top left corner; portcullis in top right corner.

Notes: Pastiche 'Tudor' design by George Shaw of Saddleworth, Lancashire, c.1850, possibly intended to be passed off as genuine Tudor. Another casting is at Hever Castle, Kent. Firebacks with the same armorial design within a different, arched edging are also known.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Canted rectangle; hatched fillet edging (top and sides); initials in triad to the left; fleur-de-lys stamp repeated seven times across top; date and initial pairs below; full width, horizontal hatched fillet below inscription; zig-zag formed of short, hatched fillets down each side below horizontal fillet; space within bordered by squared cross stamp repeated 12 times horizontally and six times on each side.

Notes: The distinctive squared cross and fleur stamps are seen on other firebacks; the initials in triad may relate to a husband and wife, the pairs of initials to their children; an almost identical fireback seen at Coombes in West Sussex (no. 1023) differs only in the alignment of the left-hand column of squared crosses. Unearthed close to the site of Elmbridge Furnace, at Newent, Gloucestershire.

Inscription: AHE [triad] 1671 WH MH

Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging; central crest of a gryphon's head couped, its wings displayed; above, the initials, the 'S' above the 'P's; below, the date.

Notes: The crest is likely to be that of Peter Short of Lindfield, Sussex, who married Philadelphia Burrell in 1704.

Inscription: PSP / 1730

Arms: Short of Lindfield

Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; symmetrical arrangement of four stamps: across the top, three crowned roses with a fleur-de-lys between each pair; across the middle, three fleurs-de-lys with a chained portcullis between each pair; below and in the spaces between the fleurs and portcullises, four letters W.

Notes: The letter W may have an apotropaic significance; the stamps have not been recorded on other firebacks.

Inscription: W W W W

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

Description: Low-arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides); top centre, shield, crest and motto of William Wood (1806-88), Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway.

Notes: The blazon: Per chevron Argent and Or, a chevron counter-embattled between three mullets gules; crest: a talbot's head erased Or; motto: Semper Vigilans - Always Vigilant.

Inscription: SEMPER VIGILANS

Arms: William Wilson, Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway

Description: Rectangular; simulated twisted rope edging; top centre, shield, baron's coronet, supporters and crest; in each top corner, heraldic badge - a Sea Lion holding an anchor.

Notes: The arms are of Sir Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, Bt., 1st Baron Devonport (1856-1934); created 1910, he was elevated to Viscount in 1917, thus the fireback would have been cast between 1910 and 1917. Blazon: Azure in chief two Mitres Argent garnished Or and in base a Square Tower of the second, a baronet's badge in chief; Supporters: On either side a Sea Lion Argent crined finned and tufted Or each gorged with a Collar Gules charged with three Roses of the second and each supporting a Spear erect proper; Crest: An Ancient Ship Or the Mainsail Azure charged with a Sea Lion of the first; Motto: Fit Via Vi (The way is made through strength). A version with the same arms and badges has an arched rectangular shape and plain edging.

Inscription: FIT VIA VI

Arms: Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, 1st Baron Devonport (later 1st Viscount)

Description: Rectangular with semi-circular protrusions on the top and sides; cavetto edging; a pheon (a downward-pointing arrow head barbed on the inner edge), within a wreath, an earl’s coronet above; the date on either side of the coronet; the initials on left and right sides; a fleur de lys in each bottom corner.

Notes: The wreathed pheon and coronet are cast from a different pattern to the 1626 and 1630 plates.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 47 / R L