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597
Description: Arched rectangular; ovolo edging (top and sides only); arms of the Barony of Ashburnham: (1st & 4th) gu. a fess between six mullets ar. (Ashburnham), (2nd) az. a lion rampant between eight fleurs de lys ar. (Holland), (3rd) erm. three crescents gu. (Kenn); on an escutcheon of pretence a chevron between three boys heads couped at the shoulders each entwined around the neck with a snake (Vaughan). Supporters: two greyhounds sa. their faces, breasts, and feet ar. collared and lined or; on either side of the arms is a winged cherub’s head; below each is a monogram of ‘B J’ beneath a baron’s coronet.
Notes: The arms are those of John, 1st Baron Ashburnham (1656-1710), who married Bridget Vaughan, but the fireback dates from the time of his son, John, the 3rd Baron, created Earl in 1730.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: LE ROY ET L’ESTAT / 17 13
Arms: John, 1st Baron Ashburnham
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- ovolo (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual numbers
- heraldic
- armorial
- text
- humans
Manufactured: in 1713 probably at Ashburnham furnace in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Ashburnham family firebacks
- Personal armorial firebacks
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633
Description: Arched rectangular shape with small rhomboidal flanges in the corners of the arch; cavetto moulded edge on all sides, with a rose stamp on each curved enlargement of the moulding in the top corners; Stuart royal arms (1605-88, 1702-14) with lion and unicorn supporters, garter, crown and motto.
Notes: A recasting. A casting of the same fireback is in the collection of the Sussex Archaeological Society, but with the addition of a person's name impressed from the broken handle of a skillet.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: [Garter and royal mottoes]
Arms: English Stuart royal
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
- royal
- text
Manufactured: in the late 17th century possibly in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Stuart royal armorial firebacks
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821
Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; shield, crest and motto in relief in a recessed arched rectangle.
Notes: The arms are of Weston, of West Horsley, Surrey: Sable, a chevron or between three leopards heads erased argent crowned or and langued gules; crest: a wolf passant ducally gorged or; motto: Gloria sat Deus unus - God alone is sufficient glory; the Westons were at West Horsley Place from the mid 18th century.
Inscription: GLORIA SAT DEUS UNUS
Arms: Weston family of West Horsley, Surrey
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
- text
Manufactured: in the mid to late 19th century in England.
Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.
- Attached to series:
- Personal armorial firebacks
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646
Description: Arched rectangular shape; fillet edging; bell-flower column repeated on each side; at bottom, central rectangular panel, fillet edged, enclosing outstretched wings; above, intertwined leaves in figure-of-eight, enclosing a crown at the top.
Notes: This fireback incorporates features of the ‘Dutch’ style but within an English form.
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- heraldic
- plants
Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century in England.
Current location: Eastgate House, High Street, Rochester, Kent, England.
Museum number: A3484 (part of the Rochester Guildhall Museum museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Miscellaneous pattern firebacks
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653
Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto-moulded edging; central, two handled, fluted vase with swirled, fruited vines issuing from the neck, and a bird on each side perched within the vines; out of the neck, a naïve human figure with arms outstretched, grasping vines on each side.
Notes: The figure emerging from the vase has a symbolism which has yet to be explained.
Copies of this fireback are known.
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- pictorial
- plants
- objects
Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Eastgate House, High Street, Rochester, Kent, England.
Museum number: A3496 (part of the Rochester Guildhall Museum museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Gadrooned vase firebacks
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670
Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto edging; three ostrich feathers issuing from a royal coronet; a blank motto banner below; the initials bottom left, above banner.
Notes: The badge of the Prince of Wales; perhaps cast during the Commonwealth period.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: IL
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- heraldic
- text
Manufactured: in the mid 17th century in the Weald area of England.
Current location: Rottingdean Grange, Rottingdean, East Sussex, England.
(part of the Rottingdean Preservation Society museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Prince of Wales firebacks
- Small cavetto series
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679
Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto moulding all round; spreading oak tree, with leaves and acorns, filling the whole plate; three royal crowns, one at the top of the tree, the other two symmetrically on the ends of branches towards the top corners; initials CR towards the bottom corners, the remaining inscription on a scroll across the base.
Notes: The design is derived from the celebrated occasion when Charles II evaded his pursuers by hiding in an oak tree at Boscobel House, near Wolverhampton, following the final Royalist defeat at the battle of Worcester in 1651. This popular fireback has been copied frequently.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: C THE ROYALL OAK R
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- heraldic
- pictorial
- historical
- text
- plants
Manufactured: in the mid 17th century in England.
Current location: Saffron Walden Museum, Saffron Walden, Essex, England.
Museum number: 1899-2 (part of the Saffron Walden Museum museum group)
Citation: Butterfield, W. R., 19 Jan 1935, 'Charles II Fireback', Hastings and St Leonards Observer.
Citation: Butterfield, W. R., 1916, 'Old Wealden Firebacks', The Connoisseur, 46, pp. 197-209.
- Attached to series:
- Commemorative firebacks
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684
Description: Arched rectangular central panel with bead edging; an inverted, cabled anchor surmounted by a crown, flanked by one initial each side; arched rectangular border with cavetto-moulded edging; top centre, face of a putto with flowing leaf arrangement descending each side.
Notes: An English pastiche of the ‘Dutch’ style of fireback, which became popular in the second half of the seventeenth century. One of a small series of firebacks with similar proportions and detail. Much copied.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: C R
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- planklines
- heraldic
- text
- objects
Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century in England.
Current location: in private hands, Sevenoaks, Kent, England.
- Attached to series:
- Carolean 'Dutch' series
- Miscellaneous royal firebacks
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350
Description: Arched rectangular shape; cavetto edging; armorial; Stuart English royal arms within a circular garter; crown, motto and supporters (crowned lion and unicorn); initials separated by crown.
Notes: An early casting of a widely copied fireback.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: C R / HONI SOI T·QVI·MAL·Y· PENSE / DIEU ET MON DROIT
Arms: English Stuart royal (prob. Charles II)
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- cavetto (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- armorial
- royal
- text
Manufactured: in the mid to late 17th century in England.
Current location: Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, England.
(part of the National Trust museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Carolean royal armorial firebacks
- Stuart royal armorial firebacks
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974
Description: Arched rectangular shape on a plain plinth; scalloped cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides); initials in triad within arch; date split in top corners; unidentified stamp top centre; hound stamp above letter 'R', stag stamp above letter 'A'; annulet stamp repeated inside each half of the date; flat scrolled protuberance on each side of arch; smaller protuberance above each shoulder.
Notes: The initials are likely to be those of a husband and wife, the stag and hound possibly associated with the husband's occupation. The protuberances are seen in different forms on firebacks on a few firebacks of the same period.
Inscription: RHA / 16 66
- Decoration tags:
- arched rectangular (shape)
- scalloped cavetto (edging)
- carved stamps
- individual letters
- individual numbers
- text
- animals
- objects
Manufactured: in 1666 in England.
Current location: Bishop's House, Norton Lees Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
(part of the Museums Sheffield museum group)
- Attached to series:
- Miscellaneous stamp firebacks
- Date & initials firebacks
- Loop edged firebacks