Firebacks

Stuart royal armorial firebacks

52 results

  1. 995

    085.jpg
    550 x 680 mm

    Description: Arched; fillet edging; English royal Stuart shield, garter, crown, supporters, 'CS' monogram to left of Garter buckle, and motto on a cartouche; small rose stamp repeated each side of crown; date split each side of top of crown (first part absent in this casting).

    Notes: Although English arms, the design is in a continental style, arched firebacks being typical of Lorraine; the 'CS' monogram is likely to be that of the pattern-maker; a modern copy of a poor casting, hence the incomplete date. For the complete version see no. 994.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: [16 missing] 21 / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / CS / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1621 in England.

    Current location:.

  2. 849

    ashurst,_peppers farm.jpg
    ~600 x ~435 mm

    Description: Rectangular with superimposed arch; embattled, cavetto moulded edging, with the top edge of the rectangle interrupted; shield, garter, crown, supporters and motto of the English Royal house of Stuart; rose and thistle plants above lion and unicorn supporters respectively; initials split by crown; date below garter.

    Notes: A version dated 1619 is proportioned slightly differently and has smaller rose and thistle plant stamps.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: I R / 16 21

    Arms: English Stuart royal - James I

    Manufactured: in 1621 in England.

    Current location: in private hands, Ashurst, West Sussex, England.

  3. 1244

    birmingham,_aston_hall.jpg
    1060 x 670 mm

    Description: Cavetto-canted arched rectangular shape with rectangular extension panels; cavetto-moulded edging, with astragal on wide fillet edging on the extension panels; central panel, crown, shield and Garter of the Tudor royal arms but with crowned lion and unicorn supporters, all within an undulating vine border; extension panels comprise a single letter (W on left, H on right) above an inward-facing seated squirrel.

    Notes: The royal arms are a hybrid of the Tudor and Stuart achievement, quite crudely modelled. The initials and squirrels both relate to the Holte family who lived at Aston Hall, which was built between 1618 and 1623. The difference in the condition of the armorial and the extensions suggest that the armorial was significantly older than the extensions. The bottom 190mm of the fireback is concealed below, behind the grate placed in front of it.

    Inscription: W / HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE / H

    Arms: English Tudor royal with Stuart lion and unicorn supporters

    Manufactured: in the mid- to late-17th century in England.

    Current location: Aston Hall, Aston, West Midlands, England.

    (part of the Birmingham Museums Trust museum group)

    Citation: Crouch, J. & Butler, E., 1900, The Apartments of the House (London, At the Sign of the Unicorn), p. 192.

  4. 1208

    bowness,_blackwell_house_01.jpg
    910 x 720 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape with a fleur-de-lys springing from each shoulder; cyma recta-moulded edging; quartered shield of the Stuart royal arms of England with surrounding Garter, surmounted by a crown and supported by a crowned lion and unicorn; indistinct motto cartouche along the bottom.

    Notes: A poorly-modelled and much-worn fireback. The fleur extensions to the top of the edging are an unusual feature

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in the 17th century in England.

    Current location: Blackwell House, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, England.

  5. 1062

    bradford-on-avon,_westwood manor 02.jpg
    ?550 x ?600 mm

    Description: Rectangular with ogee arch; ovolo, egg and dart edging; shield, garter, helm, mantling, crest and motto of the English House of Stuart; date split either side of garter buckle.

    Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Westwood Manor, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England.

    Museum number: 222503.1 (part of the National Trust museum group)

  6. 28

    burwash,_batemans 06.jpg
    665 x 740 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment raised on inverted consoles; ovolo, egg and dart edging; shield, garter, helm, mantling, crest and motto of the English House of Stuart; date split either side of garter buckle.

    Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Bateman's, Burwash, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 761132 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2017, 'Church Armorials and Firebacks: Evidence of an Early 17th-Century Woodcarver', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 135, pp. 213-223.

  7. 224

    cardiff,_st fagans 02.jpg
    780 x 770 mm

    Description: Composite; Arched rectangular shaped, armorial fireback, cavetto edging, with Stuart Royal arms, garter, supporters, crown and motto, and 1639 date above crown; this overlies a rectangular plate, with rope-effect, fillet edging; a pattern of four rosettes surrounding a fleur-de-lys, its stem terminating in a small buckle, is repeated on each side of the central armorial fireback, with the initials above; each rosette is stamped separately.

    Notes: The armorial may originally have been one of the 1619 series. Formerly at Wonastow Court, Momouthshire

    Inscription: 1639 / G / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / DIEV ET MO DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in 1639 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: National History Museum, St Fagans, Glamorgan, Wales.

    Museum number: 40.428 (part of the Welsh National History Museum museum group)

  8. 229

    cardiff,_st fagans 07.jpg
    505 x 520 mm

    Description: Rectangular with superimposed arch; embattled, cavetto moulded edging, with the top edge of the rectangle interrupted; shield, garter, crown, supporters and motto of the English Royal house of Stuart; rose and thistle plants above lion and unicorn supporters respectively; initials split by crown; date below garter.

    Notes: A different version is at Newick Park, Sussex (no. 502).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: I R / HONI S OIT QVI MAL Y ..ENSE / 16 19

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in 1619 in England.

    Current location: National History Museum, St Fagans, Glamorgan, Wales.

    Museum number: 48.354/85 (part of the Welsh National History Museum museum group)

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

  9. 880

    christies_19-06-12 560mm x 610mm.jpg
    560 x 610 mm

    Description: Rectangular with ogee arch; ovolo, egg and dart edging; shield, garter, helm, mantling, crest and motto of the English House of Stuart; date split either side of garter buckle.

    Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches. Christie's auction 19 Jun 2012 lot 191 (£1,750).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location:, not known.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2017, 'Church Armorials and Firebacks: Evidence of an Early 17th-Century Woodcarver', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 135, pp. 213-223.

  10. 487

    criterion_auctions, bath, lot 168 10 sep 2016 880x580.jpg
    880 x 580 mm

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging; shield, garter, supporters and crown of the English royal house of Stuart.

    Notes: One of many designs of the Stuart royal arms on firebacks. Another, corroded version of this fireback measures 900mm x 610mm. Criterion Auctions, Bath, 10 Sep 2016 lot 168.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in the mid- to late-17th century in England.

    Current location:, not known.