Firebacks

British 'Dutch' style firebacks

83 results

  1. 510

    penhurst,_church farm 03.jpg
    605 x 835 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with astragal and fillet edging; to the left, Æneäs carrying his father, Anchises; to the right, an arched gateway and portcullis beneath battlements with flames rising therefrom; above left, clouds; far left, a tree; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; trailing convolvulus leaves surround the central panel; plain rectangular extensions to the bottom and each side; on top, mirrored, swirled foliage.

    Notes: Many of the early illustrated editions of Ovid’s Metamorphoses show Æneäs escaping from burning Troy, with his father on his back, most of them with an archway in the background.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: TAN

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century at Ashburnham Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Penhurst Manor, Penhurst, East Sussex, England.

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

    Citation: Whistler, R. F., 1888, 'Penhurst: being some account of its Iron Works, Manor House, Church, etc.,' Sussex Archaeological Collections, 36, pp. 1-18.

  2. 516

    penshurst_07.jpg
    815 x 1060 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead-and-pellet edging; on a ground between two plants, a gadrooned flower vase with two, scrolled handles, tulips and other flowers issuing from the narrow neck; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; mirrored descending flower swags; along a rectangular bottom panel with fillet edging a symmetrical arrangement of swirled foliage; on top, two mirrored sea serpents.

    Notes: The presence of tulips suggest a Dutch origin for the pattern of this fireback, although the presence of several examples in England suggest that it was produced here rather than on the Continent.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the late 17th century in England.

    Current location: Penshurst Place, Penshurst, Kent, England.

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

  3. 548

    pet-m-102.jpg
    679 x 830 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; female figure, a crown above her head, holding two snakes; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; top centre, knot of ribbon with festoons of pomegranates suspended therefrom via a ring on each shoulder of the plate; at the bottom, two crossed palm fronds; on top, symmetrical arrangements of swirled foliage; on each side, a plain rectangular panel with fillet edging.

    Notes: Possibly the allegorical figure of Democracy; the form of the palm fronds and the swirled foliage on top suggest a common pattern-maker with the TAN series and the Mayfield 'Dutch' series.

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/102 (part of the National Trust museum group)

  4. 537

    pet-m-91.jpg
    335 x 554 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead-and-pellet edging on a broad fillet; nude figure of a man standing on a mound, resting his left hand on a club, a plant to his right, and drapery swags above; arched rectangular border with symmetrical swirls; monogram centre bottom; on top, symmetrical, swirled foliage.

    Notes: The figure is probably of Hercules.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the late 17th to early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England.

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/91 (part of the National Trust museum group)

  5. 885

    pimlico,_gifford mead 02.jpg
    491 x 755 mm

    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 five 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'.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 17 DVW Ydyw Ein Cadernid 24

    Manufactured: in 1724 in England.

    Current location: not known.

  6. 886

    pimlico,_gifford mead 03.jpg
    660 x 910 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with ‘nutshell’ edging on a broad fillet; head-dressed figure, holding a sceptre in her right hand, sitting in a chariot drawn to the left by two armadillos; the whole upon a two-arched bridge with masonry, decorated keystones and spandrels, and waves beneath; above, swagged drapery with two tassels hanging from the centre; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging, with a symmetrical scrolled wire design; the monogram, SHR, bottom centre; above is a symmetrical design of scrolled floral tendrils.

    Notes: The design is derived from a personification of America, one of a set of playing cards entitled 'Jeu de la Géographie', designed by Stefano della Bella (1677).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the late 17th to early 18th century in England.

    Current location: not known.

  7. 647

    rochester_04.jpg
    390 x 630 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with hollow bead-on-fillet edging; pictorial scene of a female figure standing on a scallop shell on a ground, holding wind-blown drapery aloft; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; top centre, a scallop shell with descending tendrils and alternating flowers and scallop shells, and swirled leaves at the bottom; on top, mirrored serpents.

    Notes: The allegorical figure of Fortune; similar in many respects to other ‘Dutch’ style firebacks of the period. The theft in 1699 from a Thames-side warehouse of several firebacks, including '5 iron Chimney-Backs cast in the figure of Fortune standing naked on a Conchus in the Sea' may refer to this type (Post Boy 11-14 Nov. 1699).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Eastgate House, High Street, Rochester, Kent, England.

    Museum number: A3490 (part of the Rochester Guildhall Museum museum group)

  8. 654

    rochester_11.jpg
    460 x 705 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead-and-pellet edging; S-scroll, two-handled, gadrooned vase with tulip stems, flowers and leaves; arched rectangular border with fillet edging and suspended flower bunches; along a rectangular bottom panel with fillet edging a symmetrical arrangement of swirled foliage; on top, two symmetrical, coiled serpents; narrow, curved shouldered side panels with beads in oval depressions.

    Notes: The presence of tulips suggest a Dutch origin for the pattern of this fireback, although the presence of several examples in England suggest that it was produced here rather than on the Continent.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the mid 17th century in England.

    Current location: Eastgate House, High Street, Rochester, Kent, England.

    Museum number: A3507 (part of the Rochester Guildhall Museum museum group)

  9. 671

    rottingdean_grange 05a.jpg
    312 x 530 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with hollow bead edging on a broad fillet; figure of a woman standing on a mound, holding a bow in her right hand and an arrow in her left, a plant to her right, and drapery swags above; arched rectangular border with symmetrical swirls of foliage and diagonal leaves at corners; monogram centre bottom between swirled tendrils; on top, symmetrical, swirled foliage.

    Notes: The figure is probably of Diana/Artemis, goddess of hunting, as she carries a bow and arrow, and has a hound at her feet.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the late 17th to early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Rottingdean Grange, Rottingdean, East Sussex, England.

    (part of the Rottingdean Preservation Society museum group)

    Citation: Elling, W. & Winkler-Borck, S., 1992, Ofen- und Kaminplatten (Vreden, Hamaland-Museum).

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

  10. 673

    saffron_walden museum 01.jpg
    513 x 805 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel and bead edging; pictorial scene probably showing the annunciation of the Virgin Mary; Mary sits beneath a canopy on the left, to which an angel descends, behind two figures seated on a stepped dais; above, two figures sit above a cloud, a curtain to the right; arched rectangular border with fillet edging, containing twisted ribbon; palm fronds gathered with a ribbon along the bottom. On top, two vases, one on each shoulder of the border, with swirled foliage descending from a central scallop shell.

    Notes: The scene appears to be from the New Testament, probably relating to the Annunciation or the Nativity.

    Manufactured: in the late 17th century possibly in the Siegerland area of Germany.

    Current location: Saffron Walden Museum, Saffron Walden, Essex, England.

    Museum number: 2819 (part of the Saffron Walden Museum museum group)