Firebacks

Foreign armorial firebacks

39 results

  1. 938

    hennell_01.jpg
    850 x 695 mm

    Description: Rectangular with three-facetted arch; fillet edging; shield, crown and lion supporters of the French royal house of Valois.

    Notes: The arms date to before 1589 when the House of Valois was succeeded by the House of Bourbon. Lion supporters on the French royal arms are not common.

    Arms: France Royal

    Manufactured: in the late 16th century in France.

    Current location:, not known.

  2. 939

    hennell_02.jpg
    673 x 710 mm

    Description: Rectangular with triangular top; ovolo-moulded edging; shield and crown of the French royal house of Valois, encircled by the collars of the orders of Saint Michel and Saint-Esprit

    Notes: Cast no later than 1589 when the House of Valois was succeeded by the House of Bourbon.

    Arms: France Royal

    Manufactured: in the late 16th century in France.

    Current location:, not known.

  3. 940

    hennell_03b.jpg
    780 x 890 mm

    Description: Upon a rectangular base plinth, wide scrolled side fillets with foliage about the scrolls and suspended bell flowers in chain above; central oval shield bearing three fleurs-de-lys supported by an angel on each side, and surmounted by a French royal crown; on top, an arch rising from horizontal moulding on each side.

    Notes: Characteristic of designs illustrated by architects such as Daniel Marot.

    Arms: France Royal

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

    Current location:, not known.

  4. 336

    huddington_court 04.jpg
    453 x 535 mm

    Description: Arched shape; cavetto moulded edge; double-headed eagle displayed, a crown above; in front, a quartered shield.

    Notes: The shield bears the arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1519-1556), king of Spain and nephew of Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England.

    Arms: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

    Manufactured: in the mid 16th century possibly in the Eifel area of Germany.

    Current location: in private hands, Huddington, Worcestershire, England.

  5. 1014

    jean_bouchu 1641 780x800.jpg
    780 x 800 mm

    Description: Rectangular with moulded edging; shield, forward-facing helm, lion's head crest, mantling, lion supporters, and collar of the Order of St Michael

    Notes: The arms are probably those of Jean Bouchu (1597-1653), French parliamentarian: azure, a chevron between, in chief, two crescents and, in base, a lion rampant sinister or.

    Inscription: 1641

    Arms: Bouchu

    Manufactured: in 1641 in France.

    Current location: Claude Augustin Antique Materials, 104 Route Nationale 6, 69380 Les Chères, Rhone, France.

  6. 1137

    leuven_museum 480x565.jpg
    480 x 565 mm

    Description: Arched shape with ovolo-moulded edging; central shield with the English royal Tudor arms and an inescutcheon of a lion rampant, surrounded by a Garter with an incorrect inscription, the shield surmounted by a crown and supported on the dexter side by a dragon and on the sinister side by a greyhound; to the left of the crown, a crowned rose and the the right, a crowned portcullis; above the supporters the date 1614 is split by the shield; below, split by the Garter buckle, initials GB.

    Notes: The arms are of Henry VII or Henry VIII, the inescutcheon probably representing a marriage to an heiress, but are anachronistic as the date was in the reign of James I (and VI). The initials GB are believed to relate to Gilles or Georges Boniver, who worked at the foundry at Theux, near Liège, and whose initials appear on several firebacks. The fireback is thought to be a 19th-century copy.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 14 / HONI SOIT IL QVIMAL I PANSE / G B

    Arms: English royal Tudor with an inescutcheon of a lion rampant

    Manufactured: in 1614 probably at Theux Furnace in the Franchimont area of Belgium.

    Current location: M-Museum Leuven, 28-30 Leopold Vanderkelenstraat, Leuven, Brabant, Belgium.

    (part of the Leuven Museum museum group)

  7. 828

    lewes,_lewes house.jpg
    755 x 790 mm

    Description: Upon a rectangular base plinth with an inscribed rectangle, to each side, a wide foliate scroll; central cartouche behind an oval shield bearing three fleurs-de-lys over a horizontally textured ground, supported on each side by a draped male figure, the whole surmounted by a French royal crown; on top, an arch rising from horizontal moulding on each side.

    Notes: Characteristic of designs illustrated by architects such as Daniel Marot; the texturing on the shield indicates the azure tincture.

    Arms: French royal

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

    Current location: in private hands, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

  8. 1045

    marc_maison 02.jpg
    790 x 970 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging; top centre, oval shield of arms within a cartouche, supported by two unicorns rampant reguardant, their hooves resting on a scrolled compartment; behind the shield is the cape of the Président à mortier of the Parliament; above the shield, a velvet cap or mortar board of office within a coronet.

    Notes: Blazon: azure, on a maltese cross argent a chevron gules between two mullets sable, and in base a rose gules. Louis-Michel Lepeletier, Marquis de Saint-Fargeau (1760-93) was a French parliamentarian. Having voted for the execution of Louis XVI Lepeletier was assassinated by a former guard of the king. The fireback dates from 1789 or later when Lepeletier was elected Président à mortier.

    Arms: Louis-Michel Lepeletier, Marquis de Saint-Fargeau

    Manufactured: in the late 18th century in France.

    Current location: 120 Rue de Rosiers, Saint Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.

  9. 1040

    marc_maison.jpg
    820 x 910 mm

    Description: Rectangular; faux-ruche cavetto-moulded edging; upper centre, shield, helm, crest, mantling and greyhound supporters on a compartment; behind the arms is what appears to be a gown spread out, comprising bands of ermine.

    Notes: Blazon: Azure, a bull passant or. Jean Bouhier de Savigny (1673-1746) was President of the Parliament of Burgundy from 1704. He was also a historian, translator, scholar and bibliophile. He resigned his post in Parliament in 1728 to devote himself to his historical and literary work following his election to the French Academy in 1727.

    Arms: Jean Bouhier de Savigny

    Manufactured: in the early to mid 18th century in France.

    Current location:, not known.

    Citation: Carpentier, H., 1912, Plaques de Cheminées (Paris & Florange, published by the author).

  10. 823

    mayfield,_yew tree farmhouse.jpg
    645 x 730 mm

    Description: Arched shape with ovolo egg-and-dart edging; crown surmounting a shield, a quartered shield with an escutcheon impaling a crowned lion rampant with an escutcheon; text along the bottom.

    Notes: The arms have not been identified; LOVEN is the town of Leuven, capital of the province of Brabant, which, in 1662, was in the Spanish Netherlands.

    Inscription: LOVEN 1662

    Manufactured: in 1662 possibly in the Ardennes area of Belgium.

    Current location: in private hands, Mayfield, East Sussex, England.