Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel, bead on fillet edging, narrow-necked urn with flowers issuing therefrom; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging and symmetrical floral festoons; on top, stylised fish with floral accessories; at bottom, two looped 'W' figures between date split between bottom corners.

Notes: The smallest of six flower vase designs in this series. All incorporate the looped 'W' motif which may be intended to identify the pattern maker. The small size of this fireback makes it likely that it was intended to be fixed to the back of a grate.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 17 24

Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel, bead-and-pellet edging, narrow-necked, two-handled urn with flowers and wheat ears issuing therefrom, the vase resting on a wall with stone courses, against which are two small flowers in pots with a stool between; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging and symmetrical floral tendrils, a looped 'W' in each shoulder; on top, mirrored leaves, tendrils and wheat ears; inscription along bottom of border.

Notes: The largest of six flower vase designs in this series. All incorporate the looped 'W' motif which may be intended to identify the pattern maker. The casting is an amalgamation of parts of two firebacks of the same design, the bottom portion from an earlier casting than the top (reduction 2%). The inscription translates as 'God is our strength'.

Inscription: 17 DVW Ydyw Ein Cadernid 24

Description: Carved wooden fireback pattern. Arched rectangular shaped central panel with top corners cavetto canted, bead-and-pellet edging on a wide fillet; hanging drapery with central tassels over three low-arched cubicles, the two outer smaller than the centre, with Tuscan columns and overlapping scales behind; on a plinth of overlapping scales with a scallop shell behind, the standing figure of Neptune/Poseidon, holding a trident in his right hand; water issues from by his feet and from the waves below him disport two 'sea horses' and three dolphins; arched rectangular shaped border with top corners cavetto canted, fillet edging: suspended symmetrical beads with tassel ends decorated with sea shells; at the bottom, between looped 'W' figures, the inscription separating halves of the date along the bottom; above, a central scallop shell with symmetrical floral scrolls on each side. Two vertical planklines left and right of centre.

Notes: Carved on three vertical oak planks, battened together, from a design in 'Nouveaux livres de ...Statues [etc.]' (La Haye & Amsterdam 1702-5), by Daniel Marot. The inscription, translated from the Welsh as 'GOD is our strength', is a paraphrase of Psalm 46: 1; an identical inscription and date is found on several firebacks. All incorporate the looped 'W' motif which may be intended to identify the pattern maker. A casting made from this pattern is no. 271.

Inscription: 17 DVW Ydyw Ein Cadernid 24

Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with bead-on-fillet edging; a peacock, facing right, standing on a plinth, with foliage to the left and clouds above; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, symmetrical floral fronds descending from a scallop shell, top centre, with a scallop shell inside each shoulder; at base, detail mostly obscured by corrosion but the numerals '17 24' are faintly visible in the bottom corners; on top, a pair of mirrored, stylised sea serpents with a central arrangement of foliage.

Notes: The image of the peacock may be an adaptation of an engraving (1654-62) by Wenceslaus Hollar, after Francis Barlow, in which a peacock also stands on a plinth. The small size of this fireback makes it likely that it was intended to be fixed to the back of a grate. A copy of a fireback of this design features in Gleanings from Old English Firesides by Arthur Todhunter.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 17 24

Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel, nut-shell on fillet edging, narrow-necked vase on a ground, with flowers and pea pods issuing therefrom, a plant in a pot to each side; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging and descending quasi-symmetrical floral tendrils; on top, quasi-symmetrical swirled foliage; date split between bottom corners, with two looped 'W' figures between. A single plankline is evident to right of centre.

Notes: The fourth largest of six flower vase designs on a discrete series of firebacks from 1724. All incorporate the looped 'W' motif which may be intended to identify the pattern maker.

Inscription: 17 24