Firebacks

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

Description: Rectangular; inset twisted rope edging (top and sides); crowned Tudor royal shield stamp repeated three times across top, each pair interspersed with an 'imp' figure with right arm raised; below each shield, rectangular stamp with indistinct ?rose design, each pair interspersed with a twisted rope saltire.

Notes: The crowned shield and 'imp' figure associate this fireback with others of the Royal series; the saltires may have apotropaic significance. Illustration from Starkie Gardner 1898, p. 143.

Arms: Tudor royal arms of England

Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; shield of the 2nd Duke of Montagu surrounded by the Garter and surmounted by a ducal coronet.

Notes: One of four firebacks at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, cast with the ducal arms and the Garter having a diameter of 77cm. Fifty firebacks were cast for the house between 1743 and 1748 by Richard Ford, probably at Newland Furnace, but also possibly at Nibthwaite furnace, both then in north Lancashire. The arms are blazoned: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable (Montagu); 2nd & 3rd: Or an eagle displayed vert beaked and membered gules (Monthermer); on an escutcheon of pretence, Sable a lion rampant Argent a canton Argent charged with a cross Gules (Churchill); John, 2nd Duke of Montagu married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE

Arms: Montagu quartering Monthermer with Churchill in an escutcheon of pretence - John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG

Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; shield of the 2nd Duke of Montagu surrounded by the Garter and surmounted by a ducal coronet.

Notes: One of four firebacks at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, cast with the ducal arms and the Garter having a diameter of 31cm. Fifty firebacks were cast for the house between 1743 and 1748 by Richard Ford, probably at Newland Furnace, but also possibly at Nibthwaite furnace, both then in north Lancashire. The arms are blazoned: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable (Montagu); 2nd & 3rd: Or an eagle displayed vert beaked and membered gules (Monthermer); on an escutcheon of pretence, Sable a lion rampant Argent a canton Argent charged with a cross Gules (Churchill); John, 2nd Duke of Montagu married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE

Arms: Montagu quartering Monthermer with Churchill in an escutcheon of pretence - John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG

Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; shield of the 2nd Duke of Montagu surrounded by the Garter and surmounted by a ducal coronet.

Notes: One of six firebacks at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, cast with the ducal arms and the Garter having a diameter of 40cm. Fifty firebacks were cast for the house between 1743 and 1748 by Richard Ford, probably at Newland Furnace, but also possibly at Nibthwaite furnace, both then in north Lancashire. The arms are blazoned: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable (Montagu); 2nd & 3rd: Or an eagle displayed vert beaked and membered gules (Monthermer); on an escutcheon of pretence, Sable a lion rampant Argent a canton Argent charged with a cross Gules (Churchill); John, 2nd Duke of Montagu married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE

Arms: Montagu quartering Monthermer with Churchill in an escutcheon of pretence - John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG

Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; shield of the 2nd Duke of Montagu surrounded by the Garter and surmounted by a ducal coronet.

Notes: One of 23 firebacks at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, cast with the ducal arms and the Garter having a diameter of 48cm. Fifty firebacks were cast for the house between 1743 and 1748 by Richard Ford, probably at Newland Furnace, but also possibly at Nibthwaite furnace, both then in north Lancashire. The arms are blazoned: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable (Montagu); 2nd & 3rd: Or an eagle displayed vert beaked and membered gules (Monthermer); on an escutcheon of pretence, Sable a lion rampant Argent a canton Argent charged with a cross Gules (Churchill); John, 2nd Duke of Montagu married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE

Arms: Montagu quartering Monthermer with Churchill in an escutcheon of pretence - John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG

Description: Rectangular shape; no edging; shield of the 2nd Duke of Montagu surrounded by the Garter and surmounted by a ducal coronet.

Notes: One of five firebacks at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, cast with the ducal arms and the Garter having a diameter of 59cm. Fifty firebacks were cast for the house between 1743 and 1748 by Richard Ford, probably at Newland Furnace, but also possibly at Nibthwaite furnace, both then in north Lancashire. The arms are blazoned: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Argent, three fusils conjoined in fess gules, a bordure sable (Montagu); 2nd & 3rd: Or an eagle displayed vert beaked and membered gules (Monthermer); on an escutcheon of pretence, Sable a lion rampant Argent a canton Argent charged with a cross Gules (Churchill); John, 2nd Duke of Montagu married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI.SOIT.QUI.MAL.Y.PENSE

Arms: Montagu quartering Monthermer with Churchill in an escutcheon of pretence - John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging; top centre and corners, stamp formed of three ostrich feathers within a coronet, repeated three times.

Notes: The ostrich feathers are the badge of the Prince of Wales; a recast plate. Gildings Auctioneers, Market Harborough, 19 Apr 2016 lot 529.

Description: Rectangular; cyma reversa moulded edging (top and sides); top centre, date with central space; top corners, ‘A’ above ‘TA’, in all cases the ‘A’ is inverted.

Notes: The significance of the inverted ‘A’ is not known; possibly an example from a late 17th-century series which often includes a rose and crown stamp.

Inscription: A 16 92 A / TA TA

Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); in the upper part of the plate, between a leopard passant guardant sinister (on the left) and a leopard passant (on the right), a domed roundel bearing an off-centre smaller roundel within an edged circular depression, repeated four times in diamond pattern, with the smaller roundels orientated towards the centre of the arrangement; in the top corners, two more domed roundels, their smaller roundels orientated towards the bottom of the plate.

Notes: The roundel stamp has not been noted on any other firebacks. One of the legs of the leopard on the left and both legs of the leopard on the right are missing, suggesting that the stamps, which appear complete on many firebacks, were well used and had been damaged; this suggests a relatively late use of these stamps. Gorringe's auction, Lewes, lot 82, 2 Aug 2021 (£170). Bishop & Miller Auctioneers, Stowmarket, 27 Jan 2022, lot 383 (£2,900).

Copies of this fireback are known.