-
292
Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging; top centre, date, above initials; two low-relief fleurs de lys down each side from top corners, and central fleur below and between the initials.
Notes: The initials may relate to William Boevey who was owner of Flaxley furnace from 1683-92. Another fireback with the same date and initials, and more fleurs, is also known.
Inscription: 1685 / W B
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- astragal with cavetto (edging)
- carved stamps
- heraldic
- text
Manufactured: in 1685 at Flaxley Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of England.
Current location: Flaxley Abbey, Flaxley, Gloucestershire, England.
Citation: Bick, D. E. [incorrectly printed as Bick, R.], Sept 1985, 'Firebacks', Period Homes, pp. 21-4.
- Attached to series:
- Boevey series
- Date & initials firebacks
-
293
Description: Canted rectangle; inset twisted rope edging (top and sides); stamp formed of a statuette of an standing angel with left hand at the waist, and holding a sceptre in the right hand; date split either side of angel; initials in triad above angel; small face stamp repeated three times, one each side of angel, and one below.
Notes: The identity of those to whom the initials refer is not known; the use of the angel statuette is a rare inclusion of a religious motif on an English fireback. A variant of this fireback is at the Lygon Arms Hotel, Broadway, Worcestershire.
Inscription: IHI [triad] / 16 33
- Decoration tags:
- canted rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
- humans
Manufactured: in 1633 in the Forest of Dean area of England.
Current location: Flaxley Abbey, Flaxley, Gloucestershire, England.
Citation: Bick, D. E. [incorrectly printed as Bick, R.], Sept 1985, 'Firebacks', Period Homes, pp. 21-4.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- Figurine firebacks
- Angel series
-
67
Description: Pediment and frieze resting on fluted Tuscan pilasters; plain podium base; rectangular central panel with double fillet edge divided into four with central panel containing initials; date in tympanum; narrow rectangular panels on each side from base to cornice.
Notes: An early example of the use of classical architectural elements in an English fireback.
Inscription: 1568 ER
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular with pediment (shape)
- none (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- extension panels
- architectural
- text
Manufactured: in 1568 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Frant, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- 1568 Architectural series
- Date & initials firebacks
-
949
Description: Rectangular; low-relief moulded edging along top, then down sides; double-looped 'lens' pattern stamp repeated six times across the top, inside the edging and, rotated, three times down each side; becapped human figure stamp, with his left arm raised to his head and his right arm akimbo, repeated in each top corner; between these, 'IE' monogram with continuous loop between the letters repeated five times, two in line above and three below, the centre one slightly raised; the date between the top two; a lifting handle on each side.
Notes: Said to have been at Horsham, Sussex; on another fireback, at the Old Manor, Upper Beeding in Sussex, cast with the same stamps, and also dated 1617, the monogram stamp is clearly carved on a 'renaissance' shield, indicating that in this instance the stamps were not impressed as deeply. Drawing by J. Lewis André in the J. Starkie Gardner Collection, Victoria & Albert Museum, Archive of Art and Design (AAD/2014/8). Possibly the fireback referred to by Lewis André in 1882 as belonging to a Miss Alman, of East Street, Horsham (Sussex Archaeological Collections XXXII, p.76).
Inscription: IE 1617 IE / IE IE IE
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- complex individual (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual numbers
- lifting handles
- monogram
- text
- humans
Manufactured: in 1617 in the Weald area of England.
Current location:.
Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.
Citation: Gardner, J. S., 30 Apr 1904, 'An old fire-back' (letter), Country Life, p. 647.
-
302
Description: Rectangular; cyma reversa moulded edging (top and sides); top centre, date with central space; top corners, ‘A’ above ‘TA’, in all cases the ‘A’ is inverted.
Notes: The significance of the inverted ‘A’ is not known; possibly an example from a late 17th-century series which often includes a rose and crown stamp.
Inscription: A 16 92 A / TA TA
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- cyma reversa/ogee (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1692 in England.
Current location: Gillingham Museum, Gillingham, Dorset, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
-
306
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides) with a fillet inside; top centre, concentric roundel with rose-and-crown below; top left, initials in triad with small rose below 'W' and small fleur-de-lys below 'M'; upper right, date with small fleur below '6' and small rose lower, below second '7'.
Notes: The style of rose and crown is similar to that used in gun founding in the Tudor period, suggesting that the furnace that was the source of this fireback may have been used for that purpose.
Inscription: WLM [triad] 1677
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- heraldic
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in 1677 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Groombridge, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- 1660s-90s Wealden series
- Date & initials firebacks
-
91
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); narrow top panel and two narrow side panels, each separated by twisted rope; top panel with symmetrical inscription line begun and ended with a stamp formed of four spots in square, the same stamps separating the date, each of the initials and a central rose stamp, the date being repeated at each end; plain side panels; central panel comprising three shields bearing a rose and crown, one on the top line between two rectangles, each bearing a griffin passant, and two shields on the ends of the lower line with two rectangles with griffins between, the bottom half of the plate is plain.
Notes: The shield and griffin stamps appear on two firebacks at Hastings Museum, in each of which the shields are inverted.
Inscription: 1569 HB AB 1569
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- simple stamps
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- heraldic
- text
- animals
- plants
Manufactured: in 1569 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Hadlow Down, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Griffin series
- Date & initials firebacks
-
101
Description: Rectangular; cavetto moulded edging; date aplit by intitials placed centrally at top.
Inscription: 17 TM 70
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
Manufactured: in 1770 possibly in the Weald area of England.
Current location: in private hands, Hartfield, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
-
116
Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top left, date carved on block; top right, individual letter 'I' followed by 'WA' carved on block.
Notes: The same date stamp appears on a group of multi-facetted, arched firebacks bearing the crowned Tudor arms within a Garter. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).
Inscription: 1589 I WA
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular (shape)
- rope (edging)
- carved stamps
- date stamp
- text
Manufactured: in 1589 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.
Museum number: HASMG: 1952.51.42 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Date & initials firebacks
- 1589 series
-
118
Description: Rectangular with triangular pediment; stepped fillet and ogee moulded edge; initials in rectangular panel (F reversed); date in portico.
Notes: The triangular top is a separate element, in this instance impressed before the lower panel. In a variant at Kensington it was positioned after. A version of this fireback, with a rope-edged panel in the lower part, and medallion stamps, can also be seen at Hastings. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).
Inscription: 1586 F M
- Decoration tags:
- rectangular with pediment (shape)
- stepped fillet and ogee (edging)
- individual letters
- date stamp
- text
Manufactured: in 1586 in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.
Museum number: HASMG: 1952.51.58 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)
Citation: Lloyd, N., 1925, 'Domestic Ironwork I', Architectural Review, 58, pp. 58-67.
- Attached to series:
- 1586 series
- Date & initials firebacks