Firebacks

Garter error series

  1. 1213

    durham_cathedral,_priors_hall.jpg
    ~1130 x ~680 mm

    Description: Rectangle with curved shoulders and low arch joined with concave curves; fillet and ogee moulded edging; central Tudor royal shield surrounded by garter, with crown above and lion and dragon supporters; royal initials either side of crown.

    Notes: On other castings of this fireback the initials are 'ER', the 'I' for James having been substituted here for the 'E' for Elizabeth but incorrectly retaining the Tudor shield. The garter motto includes ‘EQVI’ instead of ‘HONI’, making it meaningless; possibly ‘EQVI’ was a mis-transcription of ‘HONI’; the crown is distinctly continental in form.

    Inscription: I R

    Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI or Elizabeth I

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century in England.

    Current location: Prior's Hall, Durham Cathedral, Durham, County Durham, England.

  2. 303

    gloucester_folk museum 01.jpg
    1130 x 680 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangle with curved shoulders and low arch joined with concave curves; fillet and ogee moulded edging; central Tudor royal shield surrounded by garter, with crown above and lion and dragon supporters; royal initials either side of crown.

    Notes: Damaged on bottom left corner; the garter motto includes ‘EQVI’ instead of ‘HONI’, making it meaningless; possibly ‘EQVI’ was a mis-transcription of ‘HONI’; the crown is distinctly continental in form; a much-copied fireback. Previously at Hoarthorns Farm, West Dean, Gloucestershire, where another fireback of the same design was recovered from a pond and is now at the Forestry Commission camp site at Christchurch, near Coleford.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: E R / EQVI : SOIT : QVI : MAL : Y : PENSE

    Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI or Elizabeth I

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Gloucester Folk Museum, Westgate street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England.

    Museum number: GLRCM:F03526 (part of the Gloucester Museums museum group)

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

  3. 806

    salfords,_picketts farmhouse.jpg
    1076 x 830 mm

    Description: Rectangle with curved shoulders and low arch joined with concave curves; fillet and ogee moulded edging; central Tudor royal shield surrounded by garter, with crown above and lion and dragon supporters; royal initials either side of crown; lower right, inclined rectangular stamp of a dog; extended variant.

    Notes: On clearer examples the garter motto has ‘EQVI’ instead of ‘HONI’, making it meaningless; possibly ‘EQVI’ was a mis-transcription of ‘HONI’; the crown is distinctly continental in form; a much-copied fireback.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: E R [Garter motto illegible]

    Arms: Tudor royal - Elizabeth I

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Salfords, Surrey, England.