Firebacks

Shape: rectangular with round arch

274 results

  1. 597

    ripley_003.jpg
    1760 x 865 mm

    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

    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.

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

  2. 604

    ripley_013.jpg
    1200 x 900 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular with curved shoulders; cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides) with twin scrolls on inside corners, and scalloped bottom edge; armorial; shield (32 quarters), mantling, supporters (bull and crowned lion), coronet, motto, 2 helms and crests (a bear’s head erased and ducally gorged, and a bear and ragged staff).

    Notes: The impaled arms appear to be those of the Earldom of Huntingdon. The crests are of Hastings and Dudley, suggesting they are of Henry, 3rd Earl (c.1535-95), and his wife, Katherine (1548-1620), daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. She was a child when they married in 1553. This is an incomplete casting, the full version of which includes a bottom panel with a repeated guilloche design. Christie's Masters and Makers Sale, South Kensington, 30 Nov 2010, lot 516 (£4,375).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: IN VERITATE VICTORIA (illegible, but verified on other castings)

    Arms: Hastings, earl of Huntingdon, impaling Dudley

    Manufactured: in the late-16th century in England.

    Current location: not known.

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

  3. 620

    ripley_034.jpg
    920 x 750 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape with rounded corners; ovolo within fillet moulding all round; oval Tudor royal shield with garter surrounding, topped with a royal crown; dragon and greyhound supporters; initials split by crown; inscription on a fillet between legs of supporters, behind garter finial; motto on an Ionic plinth at bottom; two rectangular side panels, each with a bird stamp (probably a swan, a Lancastrian badge) above a vine strip stamp repeated three times vertically.

    Notes: One of two known variants of the John Harvo fireback incorporating extension panels with vine strips and 'swans'; the positions of the swans vary slightly between the two variants.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: E R [+ Garter, Harvo and royal mottoes, all illegible]

    Arms: Tudor royal - prob. Edward VI

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

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

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

  4. 633

    ripley_053.jpg
    803 x 610 mm

    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 (no. 405).

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: [Garter and royal mottoes]

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    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.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2020, 'A Skillet Handle on a Fireback', Journal of the Antique Metalware Society, 25 (2020), pp. 48-51.

  5. 821

    ripley_064.jpg
    610 x 735 mm

    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 [God alone is sufficient glory]

    Arms: Weston family of West Horsley, Surrey

    Manufactured: in the mid- to late-19th century in England.

    Current location: Mark Ripley Forge & Fireplaces, Northbridge Street, Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England.

  6. 646

    rochester_03.jpg
    450 x 560 mm

    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.

    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)

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

  7. 653

    rochester_10.jpg
    615 x 563 mm

    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.

    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)

  8. 657

    rolvenden,_halden place.jpg
    890 x 725 mm

    Description: Rectangular with curved top corners; Arched rectangular extension on top; ovolo edging; mounted figure in 17th cent. armour riding down a dragon to the left and below, sword in hand; inscription across top and either side of horseman; date below left; initials below right.

    Notes: Probably a representation of St George and the Dragon, with political undertones, given the date. Cursius may be a mis-spelling of Marcus Curtius, who sacrificed himself for the good of Rome. Nil Desperandum - Despair not. Other firebacks also bear the initials, IM, which probably relate to the pattern maker, some with a similar style of lettering.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: CVRSIVS / NIL DESPERANDVM / 1650 / IM

    Manufactured: in 1650 possibly at Brede Furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.

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

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2014, 'A Seventeenth-Century Sussex Woodcarver: The Evidence of Cast Ironwork', Regional Furniture, 28, pp. 39-48.

  9. 659

    rolvenden,_hole park 02.jpg
    615 x 595 mm

    Description: Rectangular with complex quasi-arched rectangular top; ovolo moulded edging; shield with Royal arms of France in a cartouche; above, an English crown.

    Notes: A different version of no. 488. The combination of the English crown and French arms is common and may relate to the marriage of Charles I and Princess Henrietta Maria of France in 1625; probably the work of the same pattern maker. Many copies exist of this fireback.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Arms: French royal

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

    Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.

  10. 666

    rolvenden,_squires 01.jpg
    615 x 590 mm

    Description: Inclined rectangle with ogee arch; fillet and ogee moulded edging; garter enclosing English Stuart royal arms, with supporters, helm, crest, mantling and motto.

    Notes: Standard armorial design; the inclined shape is uncommon.

    Inscription: [Garter motto illegible] DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: English Stuart royal

    Manufactured: in the 17th century in England.

    Current location: in private hands, Rolvenden, Kent, England.

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