Firebacks

Manufactured in the early 17th century

91 results

  1. 519

    penshurst_10.jpg
    850 x 655 mm

    Description: Rectangular; Ionic pilasters at sides, architrave on top; English Stuart royal shield, garter, crown, motto and supporters; date below and either side of garter.

    Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches. A plaster cast of a fireback of this design is displayed as the royal arms in St George's church, near Abergele in north Wales.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Penshurst Place, Penshurst, Kent, England.

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2017, 'Church Armorials and Firebacks: Evidence of an Early 17th-Century Woodcarver', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 135, pp. 213-223.

  2. 583

    petworth_062.jpg
    684 x 783 mm

    Description: Arch-shaped, with rounded-arched extension at top; cavetto moulded edge all round; five vertical planklines; arms of the Francis (or Franceis) family of Derbyshire: Argent a Chevron gules between three Eagles displayed of the same; Crest: an eagle displayed on a crowned knight’s helm; initials in bottom corners; date below shield.

    Notes: Probably the arms of Sir Edward Francis, who was Seneschal of the Petworth House estate and took overall charge in 1606 when the 9th Earl of Northumberland was committed to the Tower of London for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: E 1606 F

    Arms: Sir Edward Francis

    Manufactured: in 1606 probably at Frith Furnace, Northchapel in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/41.1 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.

  3. 584

    petworth_063.jpg
    920 x 860 mm

    Description: Of unique design; quasi-arched rectangular shape; ribbon border, curled on each side of the neck. Symmetrical arrangement of plant tendrils with acorns, oak leaves, pomegranates and other leaves across the rectangular base; above and centrally placed are the date, over which are the initials either side of a crescent moon, surmounted by an earl’s coronet.

    Notes: The initials, H N, are thought to refer to Henry, 9th Earl of Northumberland, and the date to his release from the Tower of London following his 17 years’ imprisonment for alleged involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: H N / 1622

    Manufactured: in 1622 probably at Frith Furnace, Northchapel in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 485698 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

  4. 585

    petworth_064.jpg
    910 x 756 mm

    Description: Central arched rectangular shape formed of fluted Ionic pilasters supporting a rounded arch, with fillet edging, bearing the date between two flower heads; beneath is a fouled anchor within a circlet of rope gathered into eight loops; a phoenix, its wings displayed and inverted, rises from the flames above the rope; mirrored outside each pilaster, a crouching, naked faun, facing inwards, disgorges a vine with bunches of grapes; above each faun a volute forms the top corner of the plate.

    Notes: The decorative elements of this fireback have yet to be fully interpreted; the vines disgorged from the mouths of the fauns are related to the 'green man' tradition associated with woodland spirits and symbolising resurrection, the latter echoed by the phoenix, though in the form in which they appear on this fireback they may be a purely decorative device. By contrast, the cabled anchor is the badge of the Lord High Admiral who, in 1608, was Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham (previously Lord Howard of Effingham). A pastiche of this fireback, dated 1633, is also known.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1608

    Manufactured: in 1608 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: NT/L/PET/M/117.1 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

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

  5. 1191

    ray_01.jpg
    858 x 491 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); eight shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows, 3-2-3; Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable.

    Notes: William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex. Illustrated in Lloyd (1925).

    Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:.

    Citation: Cowper, H. S., 1911, 'A Series of Kentish Heraldic Firebacks and the Identification of the Arms', Archaeologia Cantiana, 29, pp. 40-6.

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

  6. 599

    ripley_005.jpg
    900 x 475 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; ovolo moulded edging (top and sides); seven shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard - two rows with three on top and four on the bottom; two parallel vertical cuts for the insertion of firedogs.

    Notes: Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable. William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex. There is a large number of variants using the same shields.

    Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Cowper, H. S., 1911, 'A Series of Kentish Heraldic Firebacks and the Identification of the Arms', Archaeologia Cantiana, 29, pp. 40-6.

  7. 606

    ripley_015.jpg
    710 x 410 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); seven shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in two rows (3-4); Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable.

    Notes: William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex.

    Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Cowper, H. S., 1911, 'A Series of Kentish Heraldic Firebacks and the Identification of the Arms', Archaeologia Cantiana, 29, pp. 40-6.

  8. 607

    ripley_016.jpg
    740 x 470 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); eight shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows, 3-2-3; Ayloffe: sable, a lion rampant Or, collared gules, between three crosses formy of the second; Sulyard: argent, a chevron gules between three pheons inverted sable.

    Notes: William Ayloffe (c1535-1584) of Hornchurch, Essex, Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench, married (c1560) Jane, dau. of Sir Eustace Sulyard, of Runwell, Essex.

    Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Cowper, H. S., 1911, 'A Series of Kentish Heraldic Firebacks and the Identification of the Arms', Archaeologia Cantiana, 29, pp. 40-6.

  9. 608

    ripley_017.jpg
    600 x 470 mm

    Description: Rectangular; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); shield of the Worshipful Company of Masons: Sable, on a chevron, engrailed argent between 3 castles of the second, with doors and windows of the field, a pair of compasses extended of the first; above, the letter ‘C’, the letters ‘H’ and ‘M’ split by the shield.

    Notes: The arms of the Masons’ Company were granted in 1473. Sold at Christie's Masters and Maker auction, 30 November 2010, lot 523 (£500).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HCM [triad]

    Arms: Worshipful Company of Masons

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, England.

  10. 614

    ripley_026.jpg
    730 x 510 mm

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging; English royal Stuart shield, garter, crown, crowned lion and unicorn supporters, and motto; initials split by crown.

    Notes: A bold, well-sculpted pattern.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: I R / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / DIEU ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal - James I

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century in England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.