Firebacks

Manufactured in the mid-17th century

121 results

  1. 459

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 099.jpg
    766 x 580 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; shield, helm, crest and mantling of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths; date in top corners; initials at bottom, below mantling.

    Notes: One of the hooked ‘1’ series; unevenly impressed, the right more deeply than the left.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 50 / I M

    Arms: Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths

    Manufactured: in 1650 possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1933.34.046 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

    Citation: Dawson, C., 1903, 'Sussex Iron Work and Pottery', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 46, pp. 1-54.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2007, 'A Godly chimney plate and other firebacks from Brede', Wealden Iron, 2nd ser., 27, pp. 18-26.

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

  2. 946

    lindfield,_woodsland farm 02.jpg
    832 x 500 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); initials in triad to left of date (7 reversed), all between two twisted rope saltires.

    Notes: The distinctive form of the number '5' has been seen on another fireback indicating a common source.

    Inscription: RAE [triad] 1657

    Manufactured: in 1657 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Lindfield, West Sussex, England.

  3. 964

    longhope,_glasshouse inn 1.jpg
    1295 x 660 mm

    Description: Rectangular; Twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, date; initials in triad in top corners; a double fleurs-de-lys between date and each set of initials, and two rotated down each side of the plate.

    Notes: Formerly at a cottage in Bradford's Lane, Newent, Gloucestershire. Illustration from Bick 1987.

    Inscription: TRD / 1662 / TRD

    Manufactured: in 1662 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: The Glasshouse Inn, May Hill, Longhope, Gloucestershire, England.

    Citation: Bick, D. E., 1987, The Mines of Newent and Ross, (Newent, The Pound House), p. 35.

  4. 1189

    mallams,_28_jun_2023_lot_219_550x520.jpg
    550 x 520 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging; central, two handled, gadrooned vase with swirled, fruited vines issuing from the neck, and a bird on each side perched within the vines; out of the neck, a naïve human figure with arms outstretched, grasping vines on each side.

    Notes: The figure emerging from the vase has a symbolism which has yet to be explained; more than one version of this fireback exists. Mallams auction, Abingdon, 28 Jun 2023, lot 219 (£60).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the mid-17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  5. 1074

    mathern,_knovil house a.jpg
    550 x ~600 mm

    Description: Arched; twisted rope edging; date at top; initials in triad below date.

    Notes: A tall fireback in proportion to its height, probably specifically related to its early use with a coal fire.

    Inscription: 1648 / TMH [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1648 possibly at Tintern Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of Wales.

    Current location: in private hands, Mathern, Monmouthshire, Wales.

  6. 1072

    mathern,_moynes court 03.jpg
    >920 x 750 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); date top centre; initials split below date.

    Notes: The initials are believed to relate to Thomas Hughes (1604-64), MP and Governor of Chepstow Castle, who lived at Moynes Court, Mathern; a slightly larger variant of the same date but without initials has been noted; the right edge is concealed behind stonework.

    Inscription: 1658 / T H

    Manufactured: in 1658 possibly at Tintern Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of Wales.

    Current location: in private hands, Mathern, Monmouthshire, Wales.

  7. 1073

    mathern,_moynes court 04.jpg
    465 x 870 mm

    Description: Arched; twisted rope edging; date at top; initials in triad below date.

    Notes: An unusually tall fireback in proportion to its height, probably specifically related to its early use with a coal fire.

    Inscription: 1648 / TMH [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1648 possibly at Tintern Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of Wales.

    Current location: in private hands, Mathern, Monmouthshire, Wales.

  8. 817

    mayfield,_monks manor.jpg
    742 x 560 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; shield, helm, crest and mantling of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths (see Fig. 3); date in top corners; initials at bottom, below mantling; two planklines.

    Notes: One of the hooked ‘1’ series; a copy from an evenly impressed original.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 50 / I M

    Arms: Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths

    Manufactured: in 1650 possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2012, 'Pre-Restoration Iron Firebacks', Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, 20, pp. 2-15.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2014, 'A Seventeenth-Century Sussex Woodcarver: The Evidence of Cast Ironwork', Regional Furniture, 28, pp. 39-48.

  9. 823

    mayfield,_yew tree farmhouse.jpg
    645 x 730 mm

    Description: Arched shape with ovolo egg-and-dart edging; crown surmounting a shield, a quartered shield with an escutcheon impaling a crowned lion rampant with an escutcheon; text along the bottom.

    Notes: The arms have not been identified; LOVEN is the town of Leuven, capital of the province of Brabant, which, in 1662, was in the Spanish Netherlands.

    Inscription: LOVEN 1662

    Manufactured: in 1662 possibly in the Ardennes area of Belgium.

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

  10. 490

    michelham_004.jpg
    1490 x 805 mm

    Description: Rectangular; multiple moulding on top and sides; inscription below moulding at top; three pointed crosses, one between inscription and date, one each side of date.

    Notes: Purchased by J. H. Every in a sale at Groombridge Place, Kent in 1919. John Rivers was the husband of Isabella Packer, whose father Sir Thomas Packer, owned Groombridge Place. Bequeathed to the Sussex Archaeological Society in 1944.

    Inscription: IOHN·RIVERS / 1643

    Manufactured: in 1643 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Michelham Priory, Arlington, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.431 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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

    Citation: Hughes, G. B., 21 Apr 1955, 'Old English Firebacks', Country Life, 117, pp. 1056-60.

    Citation: Hughes, G. B., May 1940, 'Old English Firebacks', Apollo, 31, 185, pp. 117-120.

    Citation: Hughes, G. B., Sep 1929, 'Old English Firebacks in the Collection of Mr John H. Every', Old Furniture, 8, pp. 28-32.