-
10
Description: Rectangular; rope edging (top and sides); central Tudor royal shield with encircling garter (motto reversed: HONE SOVT QVEY … PEN), separate greyhound and lion supporters, separate crown; a bird, repeated in each top corner, its wings displayed and inverted and its head facing behind and to the left, standing on a scroll; a fleur de lys repeated in the bottom corners; inside the birds is a repeated stamp, half of one similar to a stamp on a fireback in Hastings Museum.
Notes: The particular form of the Tudor arms and supporters is encountered on other firebacks, as are the distinctive style of fleurs de lys and the birds (probably swans, a Lancastrian icon). The plain scroll upon which the bird is perched suggests that there might have been a painted inscription on it originally and that the stamp had not been made specifically for the decoration of firebacks but was, perhaps, redundant from interior domestic decoration. Formerly at Framfield, East Sussex.
Arms: Tudor royal (prob. Henry VIII)
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- armorial
- royal
- objects
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.
Current location: The Clergy House, Alfriston, East Sussex, England.
Museum number: 200044 (part of the National Trust museum group)
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1195
Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; top centre, cross formed of two lengths of twisted rope, with a flattened saltire of the same below; top right, a shield, indented at the top, charged with a bird upon a branch, below which is an indeterminate semi-spherical feature; on each side of the cross, a stylised fleur-de-lys in low relief; top left, an inverted shield with indeterminate decoration (suggested by Christy to be IC).
Notes: The cross and saltire will have had an apotropaic purpose. Illustration from Christy 1908, who stated it was in Buxted, East Sussex.
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- none (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- apotropaic
- objects
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: not known.
- Attached to series:
- Bird shield series
- Rope design firebacks
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1175
Description: Arch-shaped; fillet edge; Tudor shield, crown (with a circlet of acanthus leaves), garter (motto clockwise) and supporters. Crowned rose on dexter, and crowned portcullis (grid of 16) on sinister side of crown; the supporters, a dragon and a greyhound, stand on separate plinths; on the plinth below the greyhound is the number 28, probably half of the date 1528, the other part missing on the left side.
Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis.
Inscription: HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 28
Arms: Tudor royal
- Decoration tags:
- rounded arched (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- heraldic
- armorial
- royal
- text
Manufactured: in 1528 possibly in the Wallonia area of Luxemburg.
Current location: Consuegra, Toledo, Spain.
- Attached to series:
- Tudor royal armorial firebacks
- Continental Tudor royal armorial firebacks
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60
Description: Fragment; rectangular; flanged top edge; probable symmetrical arrangement of crowned Tudor royal shield stamps (4 above 3); vertical line on either side of each shield; left hand print in bottom left corner, probably mirrored on right.
Notes: The right side of the fireback is missing. Very crude modelling of stamp suggests an early date; the same crowned shield and use of hand print can be seen on a fireback at Rolvenden (no. 661), indicating a common source..
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- flanged (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- humans
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Etchingham, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Hand print firebacks
- Early Tudor series
- Tudor royal armorial firebacks
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1199
Description: Rectangular, plain plate; top centre, cross probably formed of a repeated length of dowel helically wrapped with a leather strap; top right, a buckle impressed four times, the top two with their prongs inclined towards each other, and the bottom two with prongs vertical and parallel; left of the cross, a shield, indented at the top, charged with a bird upon a branch, to the left of which is a 'renaissance' style shield stamp with a 'PL' monogram above two [?]bougets.
Notes: The four buckles suggest a connection with the Pelham family whose badge it is. The protrusion low on the right edge of the fireback is probably the stub of a runner through which the cast iron was run into the mould from a temporary basin formed in the casting sand. The given width dimension assumes the crack across the fireback is closed.
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- none (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- apotropaic
- objects
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Framfield, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Bird shield series
- Pelham family firebacks
- Metalware stamp firebacks
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99
Description: Quasi-rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); three gothic panels arranged horizontally, the centre one wider than the other two, each panel a symmetrical arrangement of tracery patterns with an inverted ogee arch on top incorporating two flowers; below are six, irregularly spaced fleurs-de-lys.
Notes: The panels were probably derived from a dismantled wooden chest or hutch table, c.1500. Their gothic style belies the probable age of the fireback, such chests already being old when their parts might have been re-used. The same panels are on a fireback at East Grinstead Museum.
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved pattern panels
- architectural
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Nymans, Staplefield Road, Handcross, Slaugham, West Sussex, England.
Museum number: 1206065 (part of the National Trust museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Gothic panel series
- Furniture stamp firebacks
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169
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); inscription made of short lengths of twisted rope, irregularly spaced across upper middle, central device formed of a Tudor 'A' with overstamped 'V'.
Notes: It is not clear if the central device is a monogram, or if it might have apotropaic significance.
Inscription: T A M T
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- simple stamps
- apotropaic
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.
Museum number: HASMG: 1911.60.7 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)
Citation: Page, S. & Wallace, M. (eds.), 2018, Spellbound (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum), p. 72.
- Attached to series:
- Rope design firebacks
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380
Description: Damaged rectangular plate; no edging; a buckle stamp repeated eight times in alternate horizontal and vertical pairs in four columns.
Notes: The buckle closely resembles that used to decorate glazed bricks on the walls of Laughton Place, Sussex, built by Sir William Pelham in 1534.
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- none (edging)
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- objects
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.
Museum number: LH000.912 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Pelham family firebacks
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382
Description: Rectangular; broad fillet edging; 'IhS' stamp repeated five times (4-1-4) centrally.
Notes: The use of the christogram suggests a Catholic, and therefore a possibly pre-Reformation or Marian date.
Inscription: IhS [repeated 5 times]
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- carved stamps
- text
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.
Museum number: 1944.24.036 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Religious firebacks
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435
Description: Rectangular (damaged top left corner); plain plate; centre top, a circle of twisted rope enclosing a shield, indented at the top, charged with a bird upon a branch; on each side, a cross of twisted rope above two splayed lengths of rope.
Notes: The rope design is likely to be apotropaic; the heavily pitted reverse of this fireback shows the use of poor quality iron cast at a relatively low temperature; the bird shield stamp has been seen on other firebacks.
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- none (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- apotropaic
- armorial
- objects
Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.
(part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Bird shield series
- Rope design firebacks