Firebacks

Manufactured in the late 16th century

80 results

  1. 1201

    chiddingstone,_spokeshave.png
    890 x 620 mm

    Description: Rectangular with five-facetted arched shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); small flower-bud stamp repeated 23 times inside the edging; across the middle of the fireback, two approximately parallel lines of lengths of vine strip moulding inclined up to the right; between them, five bird stamps, probably swans (a Lancastrian badge), the front of their left wings 'displayed and inverted', and three more swans above the top line of vine strip moulding.

    Notes: The stamps are all seen on other firebacks in the same series. The five-facetted arch is seemingly unique. A very similar fireback with minor differences was lot 2630 at Toovey's auction, Washington, West Sussex, 19 Jun 2015.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

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

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

  2. 1267

    cobham,_kent,_owletts.jpg
    660 x 780 mm

    Description: Arched shape; cavetto moulded edge; double-headed eagle displayed, a Holy Roman Imperial crown above; in front, a quartered shield; a flaming pillar on each side, a motto scroll entwining each.

    Notes: The shield bears the arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1519-1556), king of Spain and nephew of Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England; the pillars are a symbolic representation of the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar. Some variants of this fireback have a different date (e.g. see no. 627) or none at all.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: PLUS OVLTRE [Further Beyond]

    Arms: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

    Manufactured: in 1597 possibly in the Eifel area of Germany.

    Current location: Owletts, The Street, Cobham, Kent, England.

    (part of the National Trust museum group)

  3. 1110

    crowborough,_luxford house 01.jpg
    >685 x 615 mm

    Description: Fragment; canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top right (i.e. probably top centre), unidentified (apparently inverted) ornamental capital letter 'T'; top left, a triple-loop fleur stamp; between, rose and crown.

    Notes: Probably slightly more than half of the original fireback, with stamps also seen on another, commonly copied, fireback. It might reasonably be supposed that the missing half may have also included an ornamental letter, companion to the surviving example. Formerly at Bentley, Halland, Sussex.

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

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

    Citation: Fitt, H. F., 1931, 'Queries: Sussex Iron, II', Sussex Notes and Queries, 3, 8, p. 255.

  4. 40

    cuckfield_park 01.jpg
    895 x 750 mm

    Description: Pentagonal; convex, twisted cloth edging with inner fillet; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); initials split by crown; date split by garter buckle.

    Notes: Royal arms of Queen Elizabeth I; uncommon edging.

    Inscription: E R / HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 1585

    Arms: Tudor royal (Elizabeth I)

    Manufactured: in 1585 in the Weald area of England.

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

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

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

  5. 41

    cuckfield_park 02.jpg
    765 x 675 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; rope edging (top and sides); Tudor royal shield, garter, crown and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); date above crown; empty motto compartment with initials below.

    Notes: Identical arms can be seen on fireback formerly at Baynards Park, Cranleigh, and in private hands at Maresfield, but without the motto compartment; minor variations in the position of individual elements indicate that the garter and shield, crown, and each supporter were separately stamped; the initials are likely to be those of Henry Bowyer, ironmaster (d.1588), the fireback perhaps being made in his memory.

    Inscription: 1588 HB

    Arms: Tudor royal (Elizabeth I)

    Manufactured: in 1588 possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

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

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

  6. 52

    dartford_museum 01.jpg
    655 x 670 mm

    Description: Arch-shaped, the arch consisting of eight, straight, ovolo-moulded sections; longer ovolo-moulded pieces form the lower sides of the fireback; in the centre a circular garter enclosing the Tudor arms of England; above, a crown; the date was carved on a single stamp and placed left of the crown.

    Notes: From other examples it is apparent that the crown is formed from a separate stamp to the shield and garter. Formerly at Knole, Sevenoaks, and later at Horton Court Lodge, Monks Horton, Kent.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1589 / HONI SOIT qVI MAL I PANSE

    Arms: Tudor royal

    Manufactured: in 1589 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Dartford Museum, Dartford, Kent, England.

    Museum number: 1938-141 (part of the Dartford Museum 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., 1950, 'A Rare Group of Wealden Firebacks', Journal of the Iron & Steel Institute, 165, pp. 39-40.

  7. 266

    dawson_01.jpg
    ~655 x ~670 mm

    Description: Arch-shaped, the arch consisting of eight, straight, ovolo-moulded sections; longer ovolo-moulded pieces form the lower sides of the fireback; in the centre a circular garter enclosing the Tudor arms of England; above, a crown; irregularly spaced each side of the shield, a crossed staple stamp (the left one over-pressed).

    Notes: The crossed staple stamp suggests a connection with the Nevill family. The crown is formed from a separate stamp to the shield and garter. Other variants are dated 1589. Recorded at Penshurst Place in 1903; illustration from Dawson 1903.

    Inscription: HONI SOIT qVI MAL I PANSE

    Arms: Tudor royal

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

    Current location:, not known.

    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: Schubert, H. R., 1950, 'A Rare Group of Wealden Firebacks', Journal of the Iron & Steel Institute, 165, pp. 39-40.

  8. 871

    east_grinstead, gullege 02.jpg
    895 x ~590 mm

    Description: Canted rectanular shape, with stepped fillet edging (top and sides); upper centre, horizontal ?leather twist above an inverted ?leather twist 'V'; on each side, a shield-shaped stamp repeated twice, the upper one of each being angled so its side is parallel to the canted edging.

    Notes: The design on the shield is not recognisably heraldic in form, and appears to incorporate a possible pictorial element although this is not clear; the inverted 'V' shape may have apotropaic significance.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the late 16th century in England.

    Current location: in private hands, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

    Citation: Lloyd, N., 1925, 'Domestic Ironwork I', Architectural Review, 58, pp. 58-67.

  9. 57

    east_grinstead_church_3.jpg
    1180 x 730 mm

    Description: Rectangular; rope edging on top and sides; central inscription panel; repeated trailing vine decoration from impressed wooden strips — one horizontal line at top, four vertical strips each side of panel, eleven vertical strips below.

    Notes: This fireback came to East Grinstead church from Hurst-an-Clays, a former farmhouse on the edge of the town, in 1933. The inscription is from the same carved pattern used on the graveslab of Anne Forster in Crowhurst church, Surrey; several firebacks have been cast using this panel, each different in other details from the rest. Some of the firebacks using this inscription date from after 1591.

    Inscription: HER : LIETH : ANE : FORST/ R : DAVGHTER : AND : / HEYR : TO : THOMAS : / GAYNSFORD : ESQVIER / DECEASED : XVIII : OF: / IANVARI : 1591 : LEAVYNG / BEHIND : HER II : SONES : / AND : V : DAVGHTERS

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

    Current location: St Swithun's Church, High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2018, 'The Anne Forster Firebacks', Surrey Archaeological Collections, 101, 99-114.

    Citation: Holgate, M. S., 1918, 'The Anne Forster Grave Slab', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 59, pp. 130-1.

  10. 281

    ellesborough,_chequers 07.jpg
    790 x 690 mm

    Description: This fireback comprises at least four separate elements: the rectangular central panel has an anchor with coiled rope between two fleurs de lys, below which are two roses; the two rectangular side panels each comprise a vertical stem with six grape bunches surmounted by a smaller bunch; above, a semicircular arch contains the initials between two roses as in the central panel, with the date above; where the arch meets the central panel there is an arc across each corner; the top and sides panels are edged with simulated twisted rope.

    Notes: A variant of the well-known ‘Armada’ fireback.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1588 / IFC

    Manufactured: in 1588 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Chequers, Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, England.

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