Firebacks

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.

Notes: The supporters are those of Henry VII or Henry VIII, but the initials suggest the fireback dates from the reign of Edward VI (1547-53). John Harvo (d. c1565) was a gunfounder who has been identified as occupying Pounsley furnace, Framfield, Sussex, possibly from as early as 1547. This fireback is also seen with a variety of rectangular, rope-edged side panels bearing stamps or letters, some of which link the source of this and other groups of firebacks. The pattern or model for this fireback may have been made during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-47), with the initials added to an early casting using the original pattern. The protuberance on the bottom of the plate may be the remains of the runner from a pouring basin or overflow channel used during casting. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: E R / HONY SOYT QVE MAL Y PAVNCE / Made in Sussex by John Harvo / DV ET MOVN DRO

Arms: Tudor royal (Edward VI)

Description: Quasi-arched rectangular with 5-facetted arch; cyma recta moulded edging (top and sides); in the centre, an oval Tudor royal shield on a cartouche surrounded by a garter, a crown above, separating the initials, ER, all on a larger cartouche.

Notes: An example at Chiddingstone in Kent has additional circular, crowned armorial stamps, linking it to firebacks dating fron 1589.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: E / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENCE / R

Arms: Tudor royal (Elizabeth I)

Description: Rectangular with an ogee arch; twisted rope edging (top and sides); line of small fleursd e lys areound the top and sides, inside the edging; Tudor rose inside each top sorner (overstamped on the left); below each rose a cross of twisted rope with fleur de lys terminals, and fleurs in each quadrant; top centre, a Tudor royal shield within an oval garter - HONE SOVT QUEY MAL Y PENSE - with greyhound and lion supporters, and crown above; cross of small fleurs inclined to each side of the crown; inverted 'Y' shape in twisted rope below each supporter, a fleur at the top end of each.

Notes: A oft-used achievement of arms; twisted rope with fleur de lys terminals are seen on other firebacks from the same source.

Inscription: HONE SOVT QUEY MAL Y PENSE

Arms: Tudor royal (prob. Henry VIII)

Description: Arched rectangle; cavetto moulded edging; Tudor royal shield, Garter and crown, with crowned lion and dragon supporters; motto along bottom; Tudor rose to left of crown, portcullis to right.

Notes: This painted fireback is reputed to have been a gift from King Henry VIII to the second Sir William Godolphin, who was present at the Siege of Boulogne in 1544 with a party of Godolphin tin miners.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL E PENSE / DIEU ET MON DROIT

Arms: Tudor royal (Elizabeth I)

Description: Low arched rectangular shape; broad rebated fillet edging; stylised Tudor royal shield, crown and supporters (dragon and greyhound); Tudor rose in top left corner; portcullis in top right corner.

Notes: Likely to be a modern design of the Tudor arms, possibly the work of Anthony Salvin.

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); central Tudor shield, garter, crown and supporters (greyhound and lion), formed from separate stamps; date on a single stamp in top left corner.

Notes: The worn appearance of the central arms, compared with the clarity of the date, suggests that this is an early example of a fireback being used as a pattern, with the addition of a subsequent date. The same stamps forming the arms can also be seen on other firebacks. The extension of the lower part of the ‘3’ on the date stamp suggests that the numbers may have been fixed to the backing block, rather than the date being carved as a whole. Another variant of this fireback has the rope edging extending only three-quarters of the way down the sides.

Inscription: 1583

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arched shape with ovolo-moulded edging; central shield with the English royal Tudor arms and escutcheon of a lion rampant, surrounded by a Garter with an incorrect inscription, the shield surmounted by a crown and supported on the dexter side by a dragon and on the sinister side by a greyhound; to the left of the crown, a crowned rose and the the right, a crowned portcullis; above the supporters the date 1614 is split by the shield; below, split by the Garter buckle, initials GB.

Notes: The arms are of Henry VII or Henry VIII, the inescutcheon probably representing a marriage to an heiress, but are anachronistic as the date was in the reign of James I (and VI). The initials GB are believed to relate to Gilles or Georges Boniver, who worked at the foundry at Theux, near Liège, and whose initials appear on several firebacks. The fireback is thought to be a 19th-century copy.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 14 / HONI SOIT IL QVIMAL I PANSE / G B

Arms: English royal Tudor with an inescutcheon of a lion rampant

Description: Arched; fillet edging; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown and supporters (dragon and greyhound); top left, crowned Tudor rose; top right, crowned portcullis (grid of 6).

Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Fragment; 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 (missing)greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; rectangular side panels with twisted rope edging top and side; a short length of turned dowel stamped four times, diagonally, on each panel; a circular disc with concentric grooves in top left corner.

Notes: Similar to a fireback in the Victoria & Albert Museum, but differentiated by the twisted rope edging of the side panel and the addition of the grooved disc. The disparity between the worn surface of the armorial panel and the greater clarity of the extensions indicates that the extended casting was made using an already well-used armorial fireback and therefore at a substantially later date.

Inscription: E R / HONY SOIT QUE ... / Made in Sussex by J... / DV ET MOV...

Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI

Description: Arched rectangular with plain edges; arched rectangular inset with cavetto edging and armorial design in low relief: circular garter enclosing an ornate Tudor royal shield, surmounted by a crown; date inside top of arch; initials inside top corners of rectangle

Notes: Discovered by Mr Anthony Hill of the Plymouth ironworks, Glamorgan, in the 1820s, and believed by David Mushet, in his 'Papers on Iron and Steel' to have been cast at the early furnace on the opposite side of the River Taff; a variant of the same date has an inscription on the bottom panel and roses in relief at the bottom corners of the rectangle; the west country source for both of these firebacks suggests an origin in those parts.

Inscription: HONV SOIT QVE MALE V [illegible]

Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI