Firebacks

Royal (wreath) series

  1. 186

    hastings_070.jpg
    610 x 450 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Plain rectangle with cavetto moulded edging (top and sides); pediment with same moulding.

    Notes: Three identical backs, but with various stamps, indicate that this fireback came from the same source as a distinct series of Tudor heraldic backs.

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

    Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 952.51.47 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)

  2. 338

    huddington_court 06.jpg
    607 x 450 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment; ovolo moulded edging inside top of pediment and inside top and sides of rectangle; centre top, four-petal rose and crown with fleur de lys below; at either end, stamps made from two parts of a wreath (the middle section missing) enclosing a fleur de lys.

    Notes: The wreaths from which the stamps have been disassembled can be seen complete on two other firebacks, and the rose and crown is a common stamp on a large series of early firebacks.

    Inscription: ?I T

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

    Current location: in private hands, Huddington, Worcestershire, England.

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

  3. 672

    mayfield,_middle house.jpg
    613 x 455 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment; ovolo moulded edging inside top of pediment and inside top and sides of rectangle; central talbot crest within wreath and eight-pointed star, between four fleurs-de-lys.

    Notes: The wreath and talbot crest are identical to those on a 1584 fireback in the Victoria & Albert Museum; one of the ‘Royal’ series.

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

    Current location: Middle House Hotel, High Street, Mayfield, East Sussex, England.

  4. 689

    slaugham,_furnace pond cottage 01.jpg
    615 x 450 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment; ovolo moulded edging inside top of pediment and inside top and sides of rectangle; centre top, four-petal rose and crown with three fleurs-de-lys below; at either end, stamps made from two parts of a wreath (the middle section missing); in the pediment a cross.

    Notes: The wreaths from which the stamps have been disassembled can be seen complete on two other firebacks, and the rose and crown is a common stamp on a large series of early firebacks.

    Inscription: I T

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

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

  5. 752

    va_28.jpg
    1480 x 710 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto moulded edging on top and sides, with astragal and fillet inside; talbot crest within wreath and eight-pointed star, repeated at top corners; date top centre between mouldings.

    Notes: The crest is probably that of the Parker family, of Ratton, near Eastbourne, Sussex. Acquired from Marle Green Farm, Hellingly, Sussex, in 1896.

    Inscription: 1584

    Manufactured: in 1584 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, England.

    Museum number: 780.1896 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)

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