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663
Description: Rectangular, with canted top corners; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); nine shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in two rows, 5-4; 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)
- Decoration tags:
- canted rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- armorial
Manufactured: in the early 17th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- Ayloffe series
- Personal armorial firebacks
- Andiron slot firebacks
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665
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; fillet-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 14 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows (5-4-5).
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. The bottom part of the fireback is obscured in the photograph. The initials 'CT' are likely to be those of Charles Tyler, a founder whose working life and that of his family have strong parallels with the occurrence of these firebacks.
Inscription: C.1.6.0.3.T
Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- armorial
- text
Manufactured: in 1603 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.
Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.
- Attached to series:
- Ayloffe series
- Personal armorial firebacks
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892
Description: Canted rectangular shape; plain edging with inset ?leather strap twisted round dowel (top and sides); top centre, date probably in stamped numerals; twisted leather strap saltire repeated three times across middle of plate; pair of stamped initials, formed of a Roman 'W' and a Gothic 'd', above each outer saltire.
Notes: Sotheby's sale London 27 November 2006; formerly at Brunger, Kent (near Tenterden).
Inscription: 1610 / WD WD
- Decoration tags:
- canted rectangular (shape)
- none (edging)
- simple stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- apotropaic
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in 1610 in England.
Current location:.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- Miscellaneous stamp firebacks
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959
Description: Arched shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, shield of impaled arms; date above shield; initials, in triad ('F above), to right of shield.
Notes: The arms are of Sir Peter Frecheville (1575-1634) of Staveley Hall, Derbyshire, and his first wife, Joyce Osborne, née Fleetwood (d.1619), whom he had married in the year of the fireback's casting; the blazon is as follows: (Frecheville) Azure, a bend between six escallops argent; (Fleetwood) Per pale nebuly or and azure, six martlets, two, two and two counterchanged (the tinctures, as painted, are incorrect). At the bottom of the fireback there appears to be the remains of a runner by which the molten iron flowed into the sand mould.
Inscription: 1605 / PFI [triad]
Arms: Frecheville impaling Fleetwood
- Decoration tags:
- arched (shape)
- rope (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- armorial
- text
Manufactured: in 1605 probably at Staveley furnace in the Derbyshire area of England.
Current location: Staveley Hall, Staveley Hall Drive, Staveley, Derbyshire, England.
- Attached to series:
- Personal armorial firebacks
- Date & initials firebacks
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695
? x ? mmImage subject to copyrightDescription: Rectangular; fillet edging (top and sides only); top centre, date formed of individual letter stamps; below date, initials carved as single stamp, overstamped and showing v-shaped extension below.
Notes: The reason for the unusual shape of the base of the initial stamp is not understood.
Inscription: 1616 / WC
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1616 in England.
Current location: Nash's House, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
(part of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
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697
Description: Canted rectangle; embattled, cavetto moulded edging; central tree with fruit and leaves, a snake, facing right, with a human face in profile entwined, in ‘S’ shape, around the trunk and lower branches; to the left, a naked, bearded male figure holding an apple in his left hand and a branch in his right for modesty; to the right a naked female figure with apple and branch also; the date split either side of the snake and tree trunk.
Notes: Similarities with an armorial in the date, numerals and edging suggest a common pattern-maker.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: 16 19
- Decoration tags:
- canted rectangular (shape)
- embattled cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- pictorial
- biblical
- text
- animals
- humans
- plants
Manufactured: in 1619 in England.
Current location: Stroud District Museum, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England.
Museum number: STGC 2371 (part of the Stroud Museum museum group)
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699
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging on top and sides; fillet-edged rectangle top centre, enclosing date between initials; 16 shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in three rows (5-6-5); 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. The initials 'CT' are likely to be those of Charles Tyler, a founder whose working life and that of his family have strong parallels with the occurrence of these firebacks. An identical fireback is in a house at Cowden, Kent, and a broken example is at Wool House, a National Trust property at Loose also in Kent; small variations in the alignment of the shields are apparent.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: C.1.6.0.1.T
Arms: Ayloffe impaling Sulyard (William Ayloffe of Bretons, Hornchurch)
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- armorial
- text
Manufactured: in 1601 in the Weald area of England.
Current location:.
- Attached to series:
- Ayloffe series
- Personal armorial firebacks
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1167
Description: Canted quasi-rectangular shape; no edging; parallel with top edge, initials in triad to left, separated from date by a small, ill-defined flower stamp.
Notes: The serifed character set is boldly impressed, although the S is indistinct, suggesting that some of the moulding sand may have filled the impression before casting. The indentations on each side were cut to accommodate mouldings. Tennants Auctioneers sale, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, 20 March 2015, lot 781.
Inscription: ISM [triad] 1611
- Decoration tags:
- canted quasi-rectangular (shape)
- none (edging)
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
- plants
Manufactured: in 1611 in England.
Current location:, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
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1066
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides only); five shields of Ayloffe impaling Sulyard in two rows, 3-2; 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)
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- armorial
Manufactured: in the early 17th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location:, England.
- Attached to series:
- Ayloffe series
- Personal armorial firebacks
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960
Description: Rectangular with two-stepped top; twisted rope edging to top of main plate and sides of lower step, reused frame moulding for sides of main plate; top centre, stamp formed of a talbot statant guardant upon a wreath; date below crest stamp; initials in triad, separated by, and below, date.
Notes: Straight elements in the letters and numbers are formed of the same short lengths of twisted rope that are used to form the edging; curved elements appear to have been formed by hand drawing in the casting sand; the talbot crest, which in this instance has been over pressed and shows the shape of the backing, has been seen on other firebacks indicating a common source, and is associated with firebacks with a stepped-shape.
Inscription: N 1615 W / K
- Decoration tags:
- stepped (shape)
- rope and wood moulding (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- heraldic
- text
Manufactured: in 1615 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Titsey Place, Titsey, Surrey, England.
- Attached to series:
- Talbot crest series
- Stepped firebacks