Firebacks

Description: Quasi-arched shape with forward-facing 'wings', which splay outwards towards the base where each has been pierced with a small hole as if to insert a rod from one side to the other; the 'wings' curve to follow the shape of the main panel but curl outwards at the top; central panel with stylised tree decoration surmounted with a crown between two inward-facing animals, possibly a lion and unicorn; beneath the tree, a partially illegible inscription in relief.

Notes: This unusual casting was probably formed in an open box mould. Only a very small number of such castings are known. Depth 200mm. A similar fireback, noted at Poynings in Sussex, was illustrated in The Connoisseur, vol 41 (April 1915), p. 221; it too had a crown supported by a lion and unicorn on the top, and a tree with an illegible inscription below.

Inscription: SYLVESTR..[illegible]

Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; caped naked male figure standing on clouds, head turned over his right shoulder and holding a coronet of five raised baubles aloft in his right hand, on his left hand a bird perched, its wings displayed; above left a cloud; arched rectangular fillet border containing symmetrical, regularly-spaced 'daisy' flowers and festoons of leaves descending there from; on top of the arch, a central cartouche with a mirrored eagle and scrolls on each side.

Notes: The bottom panel of the border is missing, perhaps through breakage, the bottom flower on each side being incomplete and the fillet edging discontinued. The figure, which has yet to be identified, is probably iconic or mythological. The form of the arch suggests an English origin.

Description: Canted rectangular shape with inclined sides; cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides); horizontal fillet parallel to the top edge divided by two further fillets, in the centre the initials in capitals in triad, and at each end a lion rampant stamp facing inwards and inclined upwards towards the centre; below the lions, two inclined vertical fillets, parallel to the sides of the plate, each enclosing down the sides a double fleur-de-lys stamp and a flowerhead stamp repeated twice on each side and arranged alternately; in the panel below the initials, two different animal figures of indeterminate type, possibly monkeys.

Notes: The rampant lion, double fleur and flowerhead stamps have all been noted on other firebacks in a series identified on most backs with the initials I and B at the base of the plate. The initials are not present on this casting although the inclusion of I and B in the triad at the top could suggest that this fireback was personal to the founder and his wife. Of note are the impressions of the lions which overstamp the fillet below, indicating that they were placed after the fillet. Unlike the other backs in this series this example is undated. Wincanton Auctions, 24 Oct 2024, lot 540 (£35).

Inscription: IBE [triad]