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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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694
Description: Arched shape with scrolled side brackets; astragal edging on arch; bipartite design with side pilasters and a central pilaster surmounted by two gothic traceried arches within each of which are two roses and two fleurs-de-lys; below left arch, letter ‘W’ (possibly ‘WY’ monogram) above first half of date; below right arch, shield bearing arms of the Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon above second half of date.
Notes: The combination of the monogram and the arms of Stratford suggest an individual with a formal office within the borough; a mixture of Gothic and Classical elements; damage to bottom right side.
Inscription: W [Y?] / 15 85
Arms: Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon
- Decoration tags:
- quasi-arched (shape)
- astragal (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- heraldic
- architectural
- text
Manufactured: in 1585 in England.
Current location: Nash's House, Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
(part of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Miscellaneous pattern firebacks
- Date & initials firebacks
- Civic 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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1136
Description: Fragment; rectangular; twisted rope edging; top centre, date [1]647; top right, initials FAB in triad, A below F and B.
Notes: The initials were probably mirrored on the left side. Acquired from a location at Tintern, Monmouthshire. A fireback of near identical design and provenance was noted by David Bick at Poolway House, Coleford, Gloucestershire (Gloucs. Archives D9104).
Inscription: 647 FAB [triad]
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1647 probably at Tintern Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of Wales.
Current location: National Museum Wales, National Collections Centre, Heol Crochendy, Parc Nantgarw, Nantgarw, Glamorgan, Wales.
Museum number: 73.25I (part of the National Museum Wales museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials 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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860
Description: Canted rectangle; fillet edging (top and sides); top centre, initials, above date, between repeated fleur-de-lys stamp; from top corners to bottom corners, repeated V-shape pattern formed of stamped short fillets, with an L-shape inserted between the top two Vs on each side.
Notes: The fleurs de lys are of a distinctive style seen on a small group of firebacks.
Inscription: RH / 1662
- Decoration tags:
- canted rectangular (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- heraldic
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in 1662 in the Forest of Dean area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Checkendon, Oxfordshire, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- Square cross Dean series
- Newent area group
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1258
Description: Broken and fragmentary; canted quasi-rectangular shape, with sides inclined; twisted rope edging; top centre, date with initials below separated by a fleur-de-lys; seven fleurs-de-lys down each side, pints perpendicular to rope edging; a fleur beneath each initial, possibly other fleurs and another initial missing in between.
Notes: The fleurs-de-lys are of a distinctive form apparently unique to this series of firebacks.
Inscription: 1628 / S G
- Decoration tags:
- canted quasi-rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- text
Manufactured: in 1628 in the Forest of Dean area of England.
Current location: 31 Long Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England.
- Attached to series:
- 1620s Dean series
- Date & initials firebacks
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1091
Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); date in arch; initials in triads in top corners.
Notes: A fireback at Cotehele House in Cornwall, dated 1647 and bearing the initials AA, which may have come from Longden Hall, south-west of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, and was purchased by the National Trust from Longden Parish Council in the early 1970s, is similar in both its shape and style
Inscription: 1655 / RWA [triad] / RWA [triad]
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1655 in England.
Current location: The Freeth, Thornbury, Herefordshire, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
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1116
Description: Arched rectangular shape with ovolo-curved shoulders; astragal eding (top and sides); central stepped cross with initials separated to each side above the date similarly separated.
Notes: The crucifix suggests a Roman Catholic source; the letters and numerals appear to have been inscribed with a pointed instrument or finger.
Inscription: AR / 17 61
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular with curved shoulders (shape)
- astragal (edging)
- simple stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in 1761 in France.
Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- Religious firebacks
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1238
Description: Arched rectangular shaped, the arch linked to the rectangle by cavetto curves; cavetto edging ending in two opposed spirals at top; initials below spirals; date below initials; otherwise plain.
Notes: Probably cast from a carved, edged board, with the initials and date added separately. A copy of an earlier casting.
Inscription: RH / 1698
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1698 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Small arch series
- Date & initials firebacks