Firebacks

British 'Dutch' style firebacks

85 results

  1. 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)

  2. 676

    saffron_walden museum 04.jpg
    386 x 650 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel; bead-and-pellet edging; scene showing a semi-naked figure holding a trident in his right hand and a sheaf of corn in his raised left hand; standing on ground, with swagged drapery and tassels above, and an anchor behind right; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; on top, scallop shell symmetrical descending arrangement of swirled fronds and shells, which continue on the bottom; monogram at bottom centre; on top, mirrored stylised sea monsters.

    Notes: The figure is Neptune, one of a set of 'Eight Deities' engraved by Hendrick Goltzius (1592), after Polidoro da Caravaggio; the fireback is one of a large group bearing the same initials, which probably denotes the pattern maker. Other groups may have been the work of the same carver or workshop. The execution is rather crude.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

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

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

    Museum number: 1889-35 (part of the Saffron Walden Museum museum group)

  3. 1173

    sherborne,_macintosh_antiques_610x864.jpg
    610 x 864 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead on broad fillet edging; pictorial scene of Neptune/Poseidon, a trident in hand, in a chariot drawn through the waves by two 'sea horses', above are clouds and three birds; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; diagonal grid forming squares, in each one of two types of flower arranged in alternate lines; at the bottom, the letter W in a cartouche between swirled foliage; on top, mirrored swirled foliage issuing upwards from a mythical creature on each shoulder.

    Notes: There is some question as to whether this is a later pastiche of an early-eighteenth century style,

    Inscription: W

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

    Current location: Macintosh Antiques, The Courtyard, Newland, Sherborne, Dorset, England.

    Citation: Evans, F., 1957, 'Sussex Firebacks', Daily Mail Ideal Home Book 1957 (London, Daily Mail), pp. 113-115.

  4. 696

    stratford,_nashs house 03a.jpg
    ? x ? mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with nutshell edging on a broad fillet; pictorial scene of a standing, winged male figure draped with a cloth, holding a staff in his left hand, above a ground, and with drapery over; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; alternating acanthus leaves with swirled tendrils; on top, two mirrored sea serpents.

    Notes: Presumably intended to represent an angel; similarities in the design and execution of the pattern suggest the work of the pattern-maker identified as ‘N’ (q.v.); the missing segment had been filled with a piece from another fireback (removed in this photo).

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: Nash's House, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

    (part of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust museum group)

  5. 698

    sulgrave_manor.jpg
    483 x 762 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with nutshell edging on a broad fillet; pictorial scene of a figure in a chariot drawn by birds, above a ground, and with clouds over; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; alternating acanthus leaves with swirled tendrils; on top, two mirrored sea serpents.

    Notes: Similarities in the design and execution of the pattern suggest the work of the pattern-maker identified as ‘N’.

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: Sulgrave Manor, Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England.

  6. 1224

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_09_400x650.jpg
    400 x 650 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with canted, concave top corners and bead edging; naked, crowned figure of Neptune holding a trident in his right hand, standing amid waves and with two hippocampi to his right; same-shaped border with fillet edging and suspended ribbons with floral bunches; at base, symmetrical reeds tied with ribbon; base panel with nine linked rings; symmetrical serpents on top.

    Notes: Other firebacks have the same distinctive central panel and border shape, suggesting the same pattern maker.

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

  7. 1130

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_11_465x740.jpg
    465 x 740 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with helical ribbon edging; pictorial image of a partially clothed female figure, holding an upraised wreath in her left hand and a garland in her right hand, standing on a ground, with a gadrooned vase containing flowers and leaves to the right and, above, swagged drapery; arched rectangular fillet border with descending leaves and flowers suspended from a wreath, top centre, and a wreath in each top corner; on top, mirrored swirled fronds terminating in the heads of sea monsters; bottom, vestiges of SHR monogram otherwise all decoration obliterated by fire damage.

    Notes: The figure is an allegorical representation of Agriculture, one of the Iconologia originally published by Cesare Ripa in 1613.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

  8. 1297

    ticehurst,_authentic_reclamation_14.jpg
    310 x 530 mm

    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

    Manufactured: in 1724 in England.

    Current location: Authentic Reclamation, Lymden Lane, Ticehurst, East Sussex, England.

    Citation: Todhunter, A., c.1910, Gleanings from Old English Firesides (New York, Arthur Todhunter), p. 3.

  9. 1263

    unknown_114_470x635.jpg
    470 x 635 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shaped central panel with hollow bead edging; a putto, its head inclined to its left, standing on a platform, holding a wand in its right hand and a branch in its left hand, a flower in a pot is on each side, and above, swagged drapery; arched rectangular shaped border with fillet edging; swirled flowers and tendrils symmetrically arranged, with SHR monogram at centre bottom; two mirrored stylised sea serpents on top; to each side a vertical extension with bead edging, of the same decoration as the side borders.

    Notes: The figure depicted is probably emblematic although the meaning has yet to be determined. The frame of the central panel and the enclosing border are identical to those noted on another fireback displaying a figure of Pluto (see fireback no. 164). This may be an example of an image from one casting being superimposed within the frame of an earlier fireback. The border is identical to that seen on fireback no. 1220.

    Inscription: SHR

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: not known.

  10. 717

    unknown_24 457 x 737.jpg
    457 x 737 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead-on-fillet edging; femal figure holding scales in her right hand and a sword in her left hand, foliage and clouds behind; arched rectangular border with fillet edging; from a central bow with three tassels at the top, two suspended festoons of flowers, each running through a ring under the top corners, and continuing along the bottom; on top, a central cartouche between mirrored foliate scrolls.

    Notes: The female is an allegorical representation of Justice.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the early-18th century in England.

    Current location: not known.