Firebacks

  1. 1297

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_14.jpg
    310 x 530 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with bead-on-fillet edging; a peacock, facing right, standing on a plinth, with foliage to the left and clouds above; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, symmetrical floral fronds descending from a scallop shell, top centre, with a scallop shell inside each shoulder; at base, detail mostly obscured by corrosion but the numerals '17 24' are faintly visible in the bottom corners; on top, a pair of mirrored, stylised sea serpents with a central arrangement of foliage.

    Notes: The image of the peacock may be an adaptation of an engraving (1654-62) by Wenceslaus Hollar, after Francis Barlow, in which a peacock also stands on a plinth. The small size of this fireback makes it likely that it was intended to be fixed to the back of a grate. A copy of a fireback of this design features in Gleanings from Old English Firesides by Arthur Todhunter.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 17 24

    Manufactured: in 1724 in England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Todhunter, A., c.1910, Gleanings from Old English Firesides (New York, Arthur Todhunter), p. 3.