Firebacks

Shape: rectangular with pediment

12 results

  1. 28

    burwash,_batemans 06.jpg
    665 x 740 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment raised on inverted consoles; ovolo, egg and dart edging; shield, garter, helm, mantling, crest and motto of the English House of Stuart; date split either side of garter buckle.

    Notes: One of several firebacks, all of the same date, but varying in size, framing style and moulding; all have stylistic features in common and will have been the work of the same pattern maker, who was also responsible for carving royal coats of arms in three West Country churches.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

    Manufactured: in 1618 possibly in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Bateman's, Burwash, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 761132 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2017, 'Church Armorials and Firebacks: Evidence of an Early 17th-Century Woodcarver', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 135, pp. 213-223.

  2. 67

    frant,_lightlands 01.jpg
    892 x 875 mm

    Description: Pediment and frieze resting on fluted Tuscan pilasters; plain podium base; rectangular central panel with double fillet edge divided into four with central panel containing initials; date in tympanum; narrow rectangular panels on each side from base to cornice.

    Notes: An early example of the use of classical architectural elements in an English fireback.

    Inscription: 1568 ER

    Manufactured: in 1568 in the Weald area of England.

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

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

  3. 117

    hastings_007.jpg
    724 x 622 mm

    Description: Rectangular with triangular pediment; stepped fillet and ogee moulded edge to pediment; twisted rope sides; date in portico; medallion with dog crest stamped twice in top left and right corners.

    Notes: It may be that the date and portico form a separate panel, as the position of the date appears to be the same on the three known castings where it is found.

    Inscription: 1586

    Manufactured: in 1586 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: HASMG: 1917.196.5 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)

  4. 118

    hastings_008.jpg
    730 x 580 mm

    Description: Rectangular with triangular pediment; stepped fillet and ogee moulded edge; initials in rectangular panel (F reversed); date in portico.

    Notes: The triangular top is a separate element, in this instance impressed before the lower panel. A variant at the Victoria and Albert Museum (no. 771) has the letters positioned slightly differently. A version of this fireback, with a rope-edged panel in the lower part, and medallion stamps, can also be seen at Hastings. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).

    Inscription: 1586 F M

    Manufactured: in 1586 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: HASMG: 1952.51.58 (part of the Hastings Museum 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.

  5. 186

    hastings_070.jpg
    610 x 450 mm

    Description: Plain rectangle with cavetto moulded edging (top and sides); pediment with same moulding.

    Notes: Three identical backs, but with various stamps, indicate that the pattern for this fireback formed the base board for them and came from the same source as a distinct series of Tudor heraldic backs. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).

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

    Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: HASMG: 1952.51.47 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)

  6. 159

    hastings_museum_042.jpg
    610 x 521 mm

    Description: Rectangular with ‘pediment’ arch linked by cavetto curves; fillet and cavetto edging; pictorial, a cylindrical furnace with inscribed stone courses, flames issuing from the top, with the heads of three people, a hand raised from two of them, and an angel with wings and arms outstretched; the furnace has a small arched opening bottom centre; above the angel, the inscription was inscribed on the pattern.

    Notes: The scene represents Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being delivered from the burning fiery furnace by the angel of God (Daniel 3), the phrase, The Three Children, being a reference to the eponymous apocryphal verses from the Book of Daniel. Formerly at Brightling Hall, Robertsbridge, Sussex.

    Inscription: THE THREE CHILDREN

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

    Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: HASMG: 1913.58 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)

    Citation: Baines, J. M., 1958, Wealden Firebacks (Hastings Museum).

    Citation: Browne, P. J., 27 Jul 1967, 'Sussex Firebacks ... History of an Early Application of Cast Iron', Foundry Trade Journal, pp. 109-111.

    Citation: Butterfield, W. R., 1916, 'Old Wealden Firebacks', The Connoisseur, 46, pp. 197-209.

    Citation: Butterfield, W. R., 23 Feb 1935, 'A Scriptural Fireback', Hastings and St Leonards Observer.

    Citation: Hamling, T., 2015, 'Seeing Salvation in the Domestic Hearth in Post-Reformation England' in J. Willis (ed.), Sin and Salvation in Reformation England (Farnham, Ashgate Publishing), 223-44.

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

  7. 338

    huddington_court 06.jpg
    607 x 450 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment; ovolo moulded edging inside top of pediment and inside top and sides of rectangle; centre top, four-petal rose and crown with fleur de lys below; at either end, stamps made from two parts of a wreath (the middle section missing) enclosing a fleur de lys.

    Notes: The wreaths from which the stamps have been disassembled can be seen complete on two other firebacks, and the rose and crown is a common stamp on a large series of early firebacks.

    Inscription: ?I T

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

    Current location: in private hands Burford, Oxfordshire, England.

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

  8. 402

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 036.jpg
    760 x 880 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment and frieze resting on fluted Tuscan pilasters; plain podium base; rectangular central panel with double fillet edge divided into four with central panel containing initials; date in tympanum.

    Notes: An early example of the use of classical architectural elements in an English fireback. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: [1]568 / ER

    Manufactured: in 1568 in the Weald area of England.

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

    Museum number: 1944.24.062 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  9. 672

    mayfield,_middle house.jpg
    613 x 455 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment; ovolo moulded edging inside top of pediment and inside top and sides of rectangle; central talbot crest within wreath and eight-pointed star, between four fleurs-de-lys.

    Notes: The wreath and talbot crest are identical to those on a 1584 fireback in the Victoria & Albert Museum; one of the ‘Royal’ series.

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

    Current location: Middle House Hotel, High Street, Mayfield, East Sussex, England.

  10. 689

    slaugham,_furnace pond cottage 01.jpg
    615 x 450 mm

    Description: Rectangular with pediment; ovolo moulded edging inside top of pediment and inside top and sides of rectangle; centre top, four-petal rose and crown with three fleurs-de-lys below; at either end, stamps made from two parts of a wreath (the middle section missing); in the pediment a cross.

    Notes: The wreaths from which the stamps have been disassembled can be seen complete on two other firebacks, and the rose and crown is a common stamp on a large series of early firebacks.

    Inscription: I T

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

    Current location: in private hands, Slaugham, West Sussex, England.