Firebacks

Manufactured in the mid to late 16th century

93 results

  1. 1147

    rolvenden,_ranters hall.jpg
    1230 x 700 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; triple fillet moulded edging (top and sides); overpressed stamp, repeated three times (top centre and below, to left and right) of a crowned rose within a circular garter, each with the initials ER to left and right respectively; lower centre, the initials IC.

    Notes: The rose and crown stamp bears striking similarities to rose and crown designs used to mark some bronze cannon of the Tudor period. The initials ER could refer to Edward VI (1547-53) or Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The initials IC most probably relate to the person for whom the fireback was made.

    Inscription: ER [thrice] / I C

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.

  2. 806

    salfords,_picketts farmhouse.jpg
    1076 x 830 mm

    Description: Rectangle with curved shoulders and low arch joined with concave curves; fillet and ogee moulded edging; central Tudor royal shield surrounded by garter, with crown above and lion and dragon supporters; royal initials either side of crown; lower right, inclined rectangular stamp of a dog; extended variant.

    Notes: On clearer examples the garter motto has ‘EQVI’ instead of ‘HONI’, making it meaningless; possibly ‘EQVI’ was a mis-transcription of ‘HONI’; the crown is distinctly continental in form; a much-copied fireback.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: E R [Garter motto illegible]

    Arms: Tudor royal - Elizabeth I

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Salfords, Surrey, England.

  3. 368

    schubert_(1957) 01.jpg
    900 x 715 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); Tudor royal shield within a Garter, supported by lion and dragon stamps, a crown above, between separate ‘E’ and ‘R’ stamps; fleur de lys stamp irregularly repeated four times below right and to left of lion.

    Notes: The shield, garter and crown stamps appear on many firebacks, usually with left-facing lion and greyhound supporters; the presence of the shield and crown indicate the fireback is derived from the same source; the supporter stamps, which are over-pressed, are clearly derived from blocks intended to represent standing models. Formerly at Kirby Frith Hall, Leicestershire. Illustration from Schubert, 1957, pl. 7.

    Inscription: HONE SOYT qVEY MAL Y PENSE

    Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI or Elizabeth I

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Newarke Houses, Leicester, Leicestershire, England.

    Museum number: H.101.1930.0 (part of the Leicester City Museums museum group)

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

    Citation: Schubert, H. R., 1957, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry (London, Routledge), pp. 256-264.

  4. 830

    swanborough_manor 04.jpg
    1017 x 600 mm

    Description: Rectangular; stepped fillet moulded edging (top and sides); small fleur-de-lys stamp repeated five times, three centred across the top, two centred across the middle.

    Notes: The fleur-de-lys stamp appears to have been constructed using wire.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

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

  5. 1089

    ticehurst,_authentic reclamation 02.jpg
    850 x 505 mm

    Description: Canted quasi-rectangular shape with no edging; straight length of ?dowel placed parallel to top and to each side; square stamp with fillet edge and four diagonally quartered squares repeated five times, three rotated with sides 45 degrees to the vertical in top corners and slightly left of lower centre, and two, unrotated, repeated twice in bottom corners.

    Notes: The square stamps may be pastry moulds.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

  6. 1103

    ticehurst,_authentic reclamation 06.jpg
    755 x 455 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; double astragal edging (top and sides); arrangement of repeated square stamps with indented saltires: three down each side, five in a diamond pattern top centre.

    Notes: The lines around the edge may well have been formed from impressing a straight edge of some sort.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

  7. 977

    unknown_100 800x590.jpg
    800 x 590 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo moulded edging; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown, motto and supporters (crowned lion and dragon), temp. Elizabeth I; initials in space on either side of top of garter; the top of the lion's crown and the dragon's ear overlap the edging.

    Notes: The initials have been added to an early recasting; another version has a rose and portcullis either side of the crown, and the top of the lion's crown and the dragon's ear do not overlap the edging.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: I G / [Garter] HONI SOIT QVI MAL E PENSE / [motto] DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: Tudor royal

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

  8. 1164

    unknown_105.jpg
    ~915 x ~645 mm

    Description: Rectangular with 5-facetted arch; twisted rope edging; centre top, rectangular stamp, over-pressed, with crown above initials in bottom corners; diamond shaped stamp with fleur-de-lys repeated each side of crown, both over-pressed.

    Notes: Notable for the large size of the fleur-de-lys stamp; this casting differs from another (no. 486) in the placement of the stamps.

    Inscription: E R

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

  9. 713

    unknown_12_1155_x_755.jpg
    1155 x 755 mm

    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 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 intersepersed fragments of cresting and short rope lengths, a vertical arrangement of cresting fragments down the right side and a vertical, zig-zag arrangement of rope lengths on the left 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 cresting 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. A similar fireback is at Anne of Cleves House, Lewes (no. 371). Christie's auction, 24 May 2001.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  10. 848

    unknown_40_850x640_altered_bw.jpg
    ~920 x ~750 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape with rounded corners; ovolo within fillet moulding all round; oval Tudor royal shield with garter surrounding, topped with a royal crown; dragon and greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; two rectangular side panels, each with a bird stamp (probably a swan, a Lancastrian badge) above a vine strip stamp repeated three times vertically.

    Notes: One of two known variants of the John Harvo fireback incorporating extension panels with vine strips and 'swans'; the positions of the swans vary slightly between the two variants.

    Inscription: E R / HONY SOIT QUE MAL Y PAYNCE

    Arms: Tudor royal - prob. Edward VI

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.