Firebacks

Shape: rectangular

329 results

  1. 1101

    east_grinstead, sackville college 04.jpg
    955 x 555 mm

    Description: Rectangular arrangement with fillet edging of eight square panels (four over four) between moulded stiles.

    Notes: The pattern for this fireback suggests that it was made from a section of panelling, perhaps fitted into a frame for rigidity.

    Manufactured: in the late-16th to early-17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Sackville College, Church Lane, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

  2. 57

    east_grinstead_church_3.jpg
    1180 x 730 mm

    Description: Rectangular; rope edging on top and sides; central inscription panel; repeated trailing vine decoration from impressed wooden strips — one horizontal line at top, four vertical strips each side of panel, eleven vertical strips below.

    Notes: This fireback came to East Grinstead church from Hurst-an-Clays, a former farmhouse on the edge of the town, in 1933. The inscription is from the same carved pattern used on the graveslab of Anne Forster in Crowhurst church, Surrey; several firebacks have been cast using this panel, each different in other details from the rest. Some of the firebacks using this inscription date from after 1591.

    Inscription: HER : LIETH : ANE : FORST/ R : DAVGHTER : AND : / HEYR : TO : THOMAS : / GAYNSFORD : ESQVIER / DECEASED : XVIII : OF: / IANVARI : 1591 : LEAVYNG / BEHIND : HER II : SONES : / AND : V : DAVGHTERS

    Manufactured: in the late-16th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: St Swithun's Church, High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2018, 'The Anne Forster Firebacks', Surrey Archaeological Collections, 101, 99-114.

    Citation: Holgate, M. S., 1918, 'The Anne Forster Grave Slab', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 59, pp. 130-1.

  3. 60

    etchingham,_king johns lodge  01.jpg
    >1130 x 670 mm

    Description: Fragment; rectangular; flanged top edge; probable symmetrical arrangement of crowned Tudor royal shield stamps (4 above 3); vertical line on either side of each shield; left hand print in bottom left corner, probably mirrored on right.

    Notes: The right side of the fireback is missing. Very crude modelling of stamp suggests an early date; the same crowned shield and use of hand print can be seen on a fireback at Rolvenden (no. 661), indicating a common source..

    Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

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

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

  4. 1085

    faversham_930x620.jpg
    930 x 620 mm

    Description: Rectangular; rebated ovolo-moulded edging (top, left and half-right sides); top centre, date with unevenly positioned numerals.

    Notes: The asymmetry of the side moulding is unusual.

    Inscription: 1667

    Manufactured: in 1667 possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Faversham, Kent, England.

  5. 292

    flaxley_abbey 02.jpg
    755 x 545 mm

    Description: Rectangular; cavetto-moulded edging; top centre, date, above initials; two low-relief fleurs de lys down each side from top corners, and central fleur below and between the initials.

    Notes: The initials may relate to William Boevey who was owner of Flaxley furnace from 1683-92. Another fireback with the same date and initials, and more fleurs, is also known.

    Inscription: 1685 / W B

    Manufactured: in 1685 at Flaxley Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Flaxley Abbey, Flaxley, Gloucestershire, England.

    Citation: Bick, D. E. [incorrectly printed as Bick, R.], Sept 1985, 'Firebacks', Period Homes, pp. 21-4.

  6. 565

    folkestone_museum.jpg
    414 x 855 mm

    Description: Rectangular; flanged edging; small guilloche pattern down each side and along the bottom; upper panel, pictorial scene of the Marriage at Cana; lower panel, inscription panel within a strapwork cartouche with flowers below.

    Notes: An end stove plate with a popular scene from the New Testament - John 2.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 H 38

    Manufactured: in 1638 possibly in the Siegerland area of Germany.

    Current location: Folkestone Library and Heritage Centre, Grace Street, Folkestone, Kent, England.

    (part of the Folkestone Library and Heritage Centre museum group)

    Citation: Driesch, K. von den , 1990, Handbuch der Ofen-, Kamin- und Takenplatten im Rheinland (Cologne, Rheinland-Verlag).

  7. 1199

    framfield,_gate_house.jpg
    1155 x 740 mm

    Description: Rectangular, plain plate; top centre, cross probably formed of a repeated length of dowel helically wrapped with a leather strap; top right, a buckle impressed four times, the top two with their prongs inclined towards each other, and the bottom two with prongs vertical and parallel; left of the cross, a shield, indented at the top, charged with a bird upon a branch, to the left of which is a 'renaissance' style shield stamp with a 'PL' monogram above two [?]bougets.

    Notes: The four buckles suggest a connection with the Pelham family whose badge it is. The protrusion low on the right edge of the fireback is probably the stub of a runner through which the cast iron was run into the mould from a temporary basin formed in the casting sand. The given width dimension assumes the crack across the fireback is closed.

    Manufactured: in the early- to mid-16th century in the Weald area of England.

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

  8. 69

    freshfield,_town place.jpg
    ~1305 x 675 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); twisted rope lengths parallel to top and both sides and crossing at corners, with shorter rope lengths across inside angles; shorter rope lengths arranged in three crosses across middle of plate, the middle one higher than the other two.

    Notes: A particularly large and elaborate arrangement of rope lengths. The crosses suggest Christian significance.

    Manufactured: in the 16th century in the Weald area of England.

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

    Citation: Easton, T. & Hodgkinson, J. S., 2013, 'Apotropaic Symbols on Cast-Iron Firebacks', Jnl. of the Antique Metalware Soc., 21, pp. 14-33.

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

  9. 949

    gardner,_beecroft gallery 01.jpg
    ~900 x ~450 mm

    Description: Rectangular; low-relief moulded edging along top, then down sides; double-looped 'lens' pattern stamp repeated six times across the top, inside the edging and, rotated, three times down each side; becapped human figure stamp, with his left arm raised to his head and his right arm akimbo, repeated in each top corner; between these, 'IE' monogram with continuous loop between the letters repeated five times, two in line above and three below, the centre one slightly raised; the date between the top two; a lifting handle on each side.

    Notes: Said to have been at Horsham, Sussex; on another fireback, at the Old Manor, Upper Beeding in Sussex, cast with the same stamps, and also dated 1617, the monogram stamp is clearly carved on a 'renaissance' shield, indicating that in this instance the stamps were not impressed as deeply. Drawing by J. Lewis André in the J. Starkie Gardner Collection, Victoria & Albert Museum, Archive of Art and Design (AAD/2014/8). Possibly the fireback referred to by Lewis André in 1882 as belonging to a Miss Alman, of East Street, Horsham (Sussex Archaeological Collections XXXII, p.76).

    Inscription: IE 1617 IE / IE IE IE

    Manufactured: in 1617 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 30 Apr 1904, 'An old fire-back' (letter), Country Life, p. 647.

  10. 1234

    gardner_07.jpg
    ~960 x ~650 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; overlapping laurel leaf on astragal edging; top centre, English royal crown above an arch-shaped laurel garland, the top tied with ribbon; beneath, a palm garland of the same shape but inverted, tied at the bottom, encircling twin letter Cs, one reversed; to left and right of centre, split date, 1667.

    Notes: Perhaps commemorating the Peace of Breda which brought the Second Dutch War to an end, the twin letter Cs probably represent King Charles II and Queen Catherine. J. Starkie Gardner (1898, p. 152) misread the date as 1661 and interpreted it as celebrating the Restoration. A similar casting was lot 76, Simon Drieu & Co. auctioneers, Jersey, 20 Jul 2022.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 16 67

    Manufactured: in 1667 in England.

    Current location: not known.

    Citation: Gardner, J. S., 1898, 'Iron Casting in the Weald', Archaeologia, 56, 1, pp. 133-164.