Firebacks

Miscellaneous pattern firebacks

33 results

  1. 367

    leicester,_newarke houses 01.jpg
    640 x 648 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet and cavetto moulded edging; pictorial scene of three children, the centre one holding a stick strung with a bunch of grapes over his shoulder, and sitting on a goat.

    Notes: A mythological scene of the young Bacchus.

    Manufactured: in the 18th century in France.

    Current location: Newarke Houses, Leicester, Leicestershire, England.

    Museum number: H.358.1953.0.0 (part of the Leicester City Museums museum group)

    Citation: Carpentier, H., 1912, Plaques de Cheminées, Paris.

  2. 1083

    lethaby_1a.jpg
    735 x 525 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging (top and sides); twisted rope cross in centre of arch; fillet-edged square below arch containing initials of uneven size; along the top, a line of five quatrefoils on each side of the initials; below, two symmetrically carved roundels and associated spandrels, each with a central flower.

    Notes: The quatrefoils and roundels are likely to have been part of a redundant, probably medieval, furniture panel, perhaps from a chest. The life-size rubbing, reinforced with ink, is by W. R. Lethaby. The fireback was formerly property of the artist John Callcott Horsley RA (1817-1903) at Wilsley Green, Cranbrook, Kent.

    Inscription: PC

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, Kensington & Chelsea, London, England.

    Museum number: 3267-1932 (part of the Victoria & Albert Museum museum group)

    Citation: Lethaby, W. R., 1 Oct 1926, 'English Cast Iron - I', The Builder, 131, no. 4365, pp. 537-8.

  3. 417

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 051.jpg
    515 x 660 mm

    Description: Rectangular central panel with top arch, bead edging; pictorial scene of a a kneeling man in a wide-brimmed hat reaching up the skirt of a milk maid, who in fending him off, leans forward, tipping the milk from the bucket on her head over the man; acanthus leaves over the top arch; side border with bead edging extending over shoulders of plate, surmounted by a floral vase each side; on top a floral vase between leaves.

    Notes: Inscription on the back of the casting: 'Made from a casting lent to J. H. E[very] by Mr J. T. Ade of Hellingly'.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.081 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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

    Citation: Lloyd, N., 1925, 'Domestic Ironwork I', Architectural Review, 58, pp. 58-67.

  4. 418

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 052.jpg
    450 x 600 mm

    Description: Cavetto-arched rectangular central panel with bead-and-pellet edging, head and robed shoulders of a laureated man in left profile; cavetto-arched rectangular border with cavetto-moulded edging and arrangement of outward-facing acanthus leaves; on top, scallops on shoulders of border with cornucopiae over arch.

    Notes: A pastiche of the 'Dutch' style of fireback. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Manufactured: in the early 18th century in England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.090 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

    Citation: Lower, M. A., 1866, 'The Antiquities preserved in the Museum of Lewes Castle', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 18, pp. 60-73.

  5. 422

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 057a.jpg
    910 x 795 mm

    Description: Rectangular with a square projection middle top; castellated top edging; top centre, stylised Calvary; upper section: pictorial scene, centre, house with tiled roof, windows, and chimney at each end, paths leading from house; left, possible forge building with four chimneys and three water wheels, and adjacent furnace stack?; above, shed with lean-to, barrow, and wheel structure, all between trees; right, figure of a man running towards the house, unidentified objects between trees; lower section: plain panel with central triple-grooved horizontal line.

    Notes: A striking and unusual fireback with a scene suggesting a connection with iron-making. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the late 16th to early 17th century possibly in the Eifel area of Germany.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.045 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  6. 1211

    new_malden,_thornhill_galleries_02_850x810.jpg
    850 x 810 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape: ovolo-moulded edging; pictorial scene of St George in armour, mounted on a horse, spearing a dragon which lies beneath the horse; in each top corner, a rose.

    Notes: A portrayal of St George and the Dragon in bold relief that owes something to the famous modelling by Benedetto Pistrucci of 1817; however, the figure of St George is disproportionately large in relation to the horse.

    Manufactured: in the 20th century in England.

    Current location: Thornhill Galleries, 43-45 Wellington Crescent, New Malden, London, England.

  7. 1086

    outwood,_old hall.jpg
    >440 x 455 mm

    Description: Fragment; rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging; image of an iron grate with barred front and integral andiron with iron or brass disc.

    Notes: A unique example; it is not certain how the mould was formed, whether by impressing an actual grate or carving a pattern with the image of a grate; the former seems more likely.

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Outwood, Surrey, England.

  8. 582

    pet-m-73.jpg
    448 x 543 mm

    Description: Arched shape with ovolo-moulded edging; figure of a classical warrior with plumed helmet and shield, holding a sword in his right hand; inscription to left of head, probably continued to right by now no longer visible.

    Notes: An unusually striking fireback of simple design.

    Inscription: ANNO ...

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century possibly in the Lorraine area of Germany.

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

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/73 (part of the National Trust museum group)

  9. 533

    pet-m-86.jpg
    447 x 587 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; fluted pilasters supporting a lintel with nine evenly spaced flowers arranged horizontally; central standing female figure, holding a basket of flowers, a child upon her back, another child by her side, and a sheep to her left; on top, a symmetrical arrangement of an anchor, two paddles and two cornucopiae.

    Notes: The figure would seem to represent Charity. One of a series with a distinctly Empire style.

    Manufactured: in the late 18th to early 19th century in France.

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

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/86 (part of the National Trust museum group)

    Citation: Carpentier, H., 1912, Plaques de Cheminées, Paris.

  10. 560

    petworth_042.jpg
    830 x 585 mm

    Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shape with symmetrical double fillet rococo edging; high relief pictorial battle scene with mounted knights carrying lances and pennants.

    Notes: The battle scene may have been inspired by more than one classical portayal of a battle in history; likely sources are 'The Defeat of the Pisans at the Tower of St Vicenzo' by Giorgio Vasari and 'Alexander the Great's crossing of the Granicus' by Charles Le Brun. An engraving by Daniel Kellerthaler (1574-1648) has a similar frame enclosing an unidentified cavalry conflict.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Manufactured: in the late 18th to early 19th century in England.

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

    Museum number: NT/PET/M/54 (part of the National Trust museum group)