Firebacks

Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; shield, helm, crest and mantling of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths; date in top corners; initials at bottom, below mantling.

Notes: One of the hooked ‘1’ series; unevenly impressed, the right more deeply than the left.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 50 / I M

Arms: Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths

Description: Arched rectangular with plain edges; arched rectangular inset with cavetto edging and armorial design in low relief: circular garter enclosing an ornate Tudor royal shield, surmounted by a crown; date inside top of arch; initials inside top corners of rectangle

Notes: Discovered by Mr Anthony Hill of the Plymouth ironworks, Glamorgan, in the 1820s, and believed by David Mushet, in his 'Papers on Iron and Steel' to have been cast at the early furnace on the opposite side of the River Taff; a variant of the same date has an inscription on the bottom panel and roses in relief at the bottom corners of the rectangle; the west country source for both of these firebacks suggests an origin in those parts.

Inscription: HONV SOIT QVE MALE V [illegible]

Arms: Tudor royal - Edward VI

Description: Arched rectangular with cavetto-moulding along top, supported by Ionic pilasters; English Stuart royal shield, garter, helm, crown, motto and supporters; date below and either side of garter.

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: I R [Jacobus Rex] / HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 16 18 / DIEV ET MON DROIT

Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); in arch; rose and crown with dragon and lion supporters, above a fleur cross and a crowned shield bearing a small fleur-de-lys; text across top half, each word separated by two fleur terminals; lower left and right, twice repeated eight-pointed star design formed of twisted rope with fleur-de-lys terminals; bottom left, ‘I’; bottom right, ‘A’.

Notes: A James Hide married Joan Blackefane at Horley, Surrey on 11th October 1579; illustrated in Lower, 1849 p. 217, when it was at Sutton Hurst, Barcombe, Sussex (still there in 1893). One of a series of distinctive firebacks cast in 1582, most with inscriptions relating to pairs of individuals.

Inscription: THES : IS FOR IAMES : / HIDE : AND : ION : HIS : WIF [W inverted] / 1582 / I A

Description: Composite of three elements; central panel has a complex ‘knot’ pattern with a fillet edge; side panel, repeated on either side of the central panel, contains a vase of flowers, possibly stylised thistles, within an arched frame and fillet edge; arched panel above, also with fillet edge, contains the date and inscription; the spandrels of the side panels, and the arched top panel, contain a series of 'bullseye' motifs comprising concentric rings deepening towards the centre.

Notes: One of an unusual series formed from separate panels arranged, in this instance, with the outer panel repeated.‘Knot’ patterns were popular in gardens of the period. The garden theme is continued with the side panels. A version of the same design, recorded in a photograph of 1904 at Willesden, London, is a different casting, the top panel with the date and initials, being straight not slightly askew as in this example.

Inscription: 1598 / IM IB

Description: Arched rectangle; ovolo, egg-and-dart moulded edging; shield, helm, coronet, crest and mantling; curved inscription panel below shield.

Notes: The heraldic devices on the shield, and the form of the helm and crest suggest this may be a continental achievement of arms; the style of the fireback is, however, is more characteristic of English types.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: ... D HADRIANI ... EQVITE DOM DE HE.. / ... M.. ... ... [?]

Arms: not known

Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging; Tudor royal shield within a cartouche, garter, crown, motto and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); Tudor rose to right of lion’s head, portcullis to left of dragon’s head.

Notes: The cartouche enclosing the shield is an unusual feature. A recasting.

Inscription: Garter and Royal mottoes [not legible]

Arms: Tudor royal (prob. Elizabeth I)

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

Description: Arched rectangular shape; rope edging (top and sides); Tudor royal shield, garter, crown and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); date split by crown; lower right, initial formed of twisted rope with fleur-de-lys terminals; small fleur-de-lys stamp repeated 14 times across top edge and arch; fleur-de-lys cross repeated six times across lower part of plate.

Notes: Identical arms can be seen on at least two other firebacks; minor variations in the position of individual elements indicate that the garter and shield, crown, and each supporter were separately stamped. The lack of definition in the decoration suggests that this is a recast plate.

Inscription: 1595 / I H

Arms: Tudor royal - Elizabeth I

Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; shield, helm, crest and mantling of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths (see Fig. 3); date in top corners; initials at bottom, below mantling; two planklines.

Notes: One of the hooked ‘1’ series; a copy from an evenly impressed original.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 50 / I M

Arms: Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths