Firebacks

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

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

Description: 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

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]

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

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

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

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]

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

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