Firebacks

Manufactured in the late-17th century

84 results

  1. 1071

    westbury_on severn, boseley court.jpg
    1640 x >400 mm

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging; horizontal line of twisted rope parallel with the top; two vertical lines of twisted rope parallel to the sides; fillet arc inside the corner of the horizontal and vertical lines; each arc encloses 28 (left) or 29 (right) 'daisy heads', with a line of the same stamp around the inside of the lines; in the top corners, the split date; in the top compartment, initials, TH, between 22 hollow saltires, each with a central bead, in a horizontal line, 11 on each side; in each side compartment, at least seven hollow saltires arranged vertically.

    Notes: The fireback is partially sunk into the floor of the hearth, so its height is not known.

    Inscription: 16 TH 99

    Manufactured: in 1699 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire, England.

  2. 879

    westfield,_lankhurst farm 02.jpg
    1215 x 635 mm

    Description: Rectangular; ogee-moulded edging (top and sides); at top, initials in middle, date split between top corners; large letters; straight base to number '8'.

    Notes: The '8' is more typically found with the straight edge at the top.

    Inscription: 16 IF 89

    Manufactured: in 1689 in the Weald area of England.

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

  3. 1009

    westland_ltd 9961 400x480a.jpg
    400 x 480 mm

    Description: Narrow, arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; a standing female figure in flowing robes, facing forward, holding in her right hand a slanting inverted anchor, a poorly modelled left arm apparently beckoning; arched rectangular border with cavetto-moulded edging enclosing, on each side of the central panel, a festoon of acanthus suspended from a ribbon bow; along the base is a line of acanthus leaves; under the arch, descending foliage.

    Notes: The figure is likely to be an allegory of Hope. A recasting, hence the loss of image definition.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the late-17th century in England.

    Current location: Westland Ltd, St Leonard's Church, Leonard Street, Shoreditch, London, England.

  4. 1105

    worth,_rowfant house 3.jpg
    ~406 x ~296 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; cyma recta moulded edging (top and sides); top centre, rose and crown; top right, date; top left, initials, DI (with D reversed); small rose stamp between initials and rose/crown; concentric, rope-patterned roundel below date and below initials, with fleur-de-lys separating each from the rose/crown; below, uneven alternating line of three fleurs and two small rose stamps.

    Notes: One of a series of firebacks cast between the 1670s and 1690s bearing small, simple stamps, initials and dates; 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. Alleged to have been formally at Rowfant House, Worth, Sussex.

    Inscription: D [reversed] I 1685

    Manufactured: in 1685 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.