Firebacks

Description: Rectangular; fillet edging; fillet parallel to top edge separating top quarter; two fillets parallel to sides separating side quarters; halves of date in top corner squares.

Notes: Numeral style is typical of first half of 18th century.

Inscription: 17 36

Description: Rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, cross-shaped arrangement of four fleurs-de-lys between to crosses formed of lengths of twisted rope with single fleurs outside and beyond each of them a dagger, point upwards; to the right, a single fleur; bottom centre, a triangle formed of three lengths of twisted rope, vertex to the bottom, between two non-identical groups of three fleurs arranged in star pattern.

Notes: The style of the fleurs-de-lys associates this fireback with a series with several examples. The dagger type (approximate length 32cm) is different to others in the same series. Bishop & Miller Auctioneers, Stowmarket, 27 Jan 2022, lot 88 (£110).

Description: Rectangular; carved strip with undulating vine between fillets, repeated on each side; carved inscription panel along top edge; centre, two traceried panels, each with a central shield beneath a gothic arch.

Notes: One of several similar firebacks produced in the same period.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: JHESUS MARIA JHONES

Description: Rectangular; rope edge (top and sides); rose and crown within a shield, stamped twice, both inverted, down centre; rectangular stamp with griffin, twice, in top corners.

Notes: Five other firebacks bearing these stamps are known: one is also in Hastings, and one, dated 1569, is at Hadlow Down, Sussex. The locations of the other three are not known. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).

Description: Rectangular; cavetto edging; a left-facing cockerel grasps a snake in its beak, another snake writhes on the ground behind it; date to left of the cockerel’s tail; four vertical planklines.

Notes: The design may have religious significance, the snake symbolising sin and the cockerel denoting St Peter’s denial of Christ. The ‘1’ of the date is hooked, suggesting a common source with firebacks designed by the pattern-maker, IM. A copy of this fireback is set into the brickwork of 16 Old Church Street, Chelsea, London.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1652

Description: Rectangular with mirrored floriate scrolled top; simulated overlapping tile edging at sides, with fillet bottom edge; a mythical salamander in the form of a dog with an arrow-shaped tongue, standing among flames; a stapled scroll inside the left and right edges.

Notes: This fireback was used to create a composite fireback design on a plate at Rivers Farmhouse, Ardingly (no. 13).

Description: Rectangular; cyma recta (ogee) moulded edging (top and sides); fleur-de-lys stamp repeated three times across the upper part of the plate; a long pastry mould stamped between each pair of fleurs; above the central fleur, a small stamp, over-pressed, bearing FL below a coronet; above the right fleur, a small stamp, over-pressed, bearing a fish embowed.

Notes: The food moulds are variations of others used in the same series.

Inscription: FL

Description: Rectangular with cavetto moulded edging; English Royal supporters (crowned lion and unicorn) standing upon a cartouche, upon which rests a blank motto scroll; above, an anchor, surrounded by a looped cable is encircled by the Garter ribbon, which is surmounted by a royal coronet; the numbers ‘61’, presumably part of the date, are to the right of the unicorn, and a letter, ‘D’, is placed between the unicorn and the coronet.

Notes: From another casting of the same back, the date is known to be 1661. The cabled anchor is the badge of the Lord High Admiral who, in 1661, was the Duke of York and Albany, later James II. The missing initial is an ‘I’, for Jacobus Dux. The absence of the motto may be explained by the pattern being a carved armorial panel where the motto text, unlike that of the Garter, was merely painted.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: [I] D / 16 61

Arms: Lord High Admiral of England

Description: Rectangular; cyma recta moulded edging formed of short lengths probably derived from furniture; top left, initials arranged in triad; top right, date; top centre, rose-and-crown between two small fleurs de lys, with two concentric rope-patterned roundels outside, above two small roses; four roses evenly spaced across lower middle, with a fleur between each outer pair, and another rose below the date.

Notes: One of a series of firebacks cast between the 1670s and 1690s bearing small, simple stamps, initials and dates; the style of rose and crown is similar to that used in gun founding in the Tudor period, suggesting that the furnace that was the source of this fireback may have been used for that purpose.

Inscription: HEM [triad] 1685

Description: Rectangular shape; twisted rope edging; top centre, a lion passant on the right and a lion passant guardant sinister on the left; in each top corner, a four-petalled Tudor rose; below each rose, two 'imps', one with right arm raised, the other with both arms lowered, the pair on the left facing to the right and the pair on the right facing to the left; below each lion, a crowned, four-petalled Tudor rose.

Notes: A fireback with a combination of stamps seen on a series of backs probably first produced during the reign of Henry VIII