Firebacks

Description: Rectangular with triangular arch; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); small stamp of a quartered shield with helm, crest and mantling above the date '1571, initials split either side of shield, repeated six times in two lines of three, the middle stamp of each line higher than the other two.

Notes: The arms may be of the family of Humberston quartered with another; the stamp would have been made specially for the fireback, the date and initials being carved with the arms.

Inscription: I H / 15 71 [repeated 6 times]

Arms: Humberston family

Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging (top and sides); twisted rope cross in centre of arch; fillet-edged square below arch containing initials of uneven size; along the top, a line of five quatrefoils on each side of the initials; below, two symmetrically carved roundels and associated spandrels, each with a central flower.

Notes: The quatrefoils and roundels are likely to have been part of a redundant, probably medieval, furniture panel, perhaps from a chest. The life-size rubbing, reinforced with ink, is by W. R. Lethaby. The fireback was formerly property of the artist John Callcott Horsley RA (1817-1903) at Wilsley Green, Cranbrook, Kent.

Inscription: PC

Description: Fragment; left side only; twisted rope edging to left, canted moulded batten above; left hand print with dividers to its right.

Notes: An unusual combination of edging. The dividers may refer to the occupation of the person for whom this fireback was cast. Formerly in the collection of Dr C. L. Prince of Crowborough, Sussex.

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top row, two square-within-a-square arrangements of twisted rope between three stamps formed of Gothic tracery cresting; 2nd row, two more tracery cresting stamps (the one on the right over stamping a fleur-de-lys) between two crowned, star-embossed butter mould stamps with a crowned rose-en-soleil stamp in the middle; 3rd row, three star-embossed butter mould stamps with two pairs of fleurs-de-lys between them; bottom row, seven fleurs-de-lys; plus interspersed short rope lengths, and a vertical, double zig-zag arrangement of rope lengths on each side.

Notes: The rose-en-soleil was the badge of King Edward IV and, thus, a Yorkist symbol. Many of the stamps employed on this fireback are seen, with other stamps, on a wide variety of firebacks, suggesting a common source; similar gothic tracery stamps can be seen as pierced cresting on a rare late-Medieval, wooden Easter sepulchre at the redundant church of St Michael at Cowthorpe, North Yorkshire. Another fireback with an almost identical arrangement of the same stamps has also been noted (no. 713).

Description: Rectangular with canted top corners; twisted rope edging all round except on bottom; three impressions of two circular wafering irons: the central one with invected edge, a heart surmounted by a cross beneath which scroll-work is arranged symmetrically, inscription around edge; the two outer stamps comprise a central motif of four hearts arranged in a cross shape, their points facing the centre, within two concentric bands decorated with lace-like patterns. Above each of the two outer stamps is a simple four-pointed cross shape formed from short lengths of twisted rope.

Notes: The use of wafering irons or butter prints as stamps in casting firebacks is infrequent. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

Inscription: ...N:YOU:NOT: REIVE:MY:HERT:IS:YOURES / [?]1562

Description: Quasi-rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); a length of twisted rope stamped six times to form a saltire and two crosses across the width of the plate; surplus iron extends from all sides.

Notes: The surplus iron resulted from over filling of the mould. The crosses are likely to have Christian significance. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); central rope carbuncle with eight arms, with a rose between each of the top six pairs of arms; a fleur-de-lys repeated six times in two triads (2-1) in each top corner; a letter ‘E’ rotated clockwise repeated 8 times along the top between the fleurs and roses, and twice down each side; four additional ‘E’s, one to the left of the carbuncle and three to the right.

Notes: All the stamps can be seen on other firebacks associating them with the same source; The ‘E’s are identical to those seen on the John Harvo armorial fireback. The elaborate central rope array may be an interpretation of the escarbuncle, which was the principal heraldic charge on the arms of the Duchy of Cleves, possibly associating this fireback with the brief marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

Description: Fragment (left end only); prob. rectangular; twisted rope edging; slightly angled stamp formed of the end of a firedog with semi-circular feet, and shields at the base and top of the pilaster; V-shaped arrangement of a length of twisted rope stamped twice, the point touching the left edge of the plate and one end touching the top.

Notes: Likely to have been a triple arrangement of firedog impressions.

Description: Fragment; left part of rectangle; twisted rope border (top and sides); long, narrow stamp with undulating vine motif, repeated three times in 'A' shape with top bar; short length of same strip repeated six times, one across middle of 'A', two each side of 'A' at top, one lower right; indistinct stamp with swirled floral design between lower legs of 'A'.

Notes: The same vine strip stamp is seen, in both long and short lengths, on many firebacks, indicating a common source. All the stamps were probably derived from redundant furniture.

Description: Arched rectangular shape; thin twisted rope edging on top and sides; trailing vine strips frame a row of repeated bird (probably swan) stamps (5) above repeated rose en soleil stamps (5); single bird stamp with two short, slanting vine strips in top arch.

Notes: The rose-en-soleil was the badge of King Edward IV and, thus, a Yorkist symbol, while the swan had been adopted by Henry IV and was, therefore, a Lancastrian symbol.