Firebacks

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Description: Armorial within complex ovolo moulded edging (top and sides); quartered shield, helm, crest and mantling; plain panel below.

Notes: The arms can be identified from the first four quarters on the memorial to Raffe Maynard, d.1613, in St Albans Cathedral; quarterly, 1, Maynard: argent, a chevron azure between three sinister hands couped at the wrist gules; 2, Filleigh: gules, a fess vairy between six crosses formy or; 3, Harris/Hawes/Hewish: gules fretty argent a canton of the second; 4, Lyons: argent a chevron sable between three lions dormant coward gules; the crest, a stag statant, is of Maynard. The Maynards, originally from Devon, were a large family in Rotherfield, and Richard Maynard (d.1619) had an interest in Old Mill, Mayfield, as well as in Birchden forge, and probably Hamsell furnace. An example without the extension panel at the bottom has been noted. A larger fireback with the same arms, and probably by the same pattern maker, can also be seen (no. 144).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Maynard

Description: Arched rectangular shape with symmetrical floral scrolls on top; three horizontal plank lines; ovolo moulding all round edge of main panel; central figure of a bearded man wearing knee-length coat, belted at waist, and holding a sledge hammer in his right hand, his left arm akimbo; various ‘tools’ of his trade arranged about him; (clockwise from top left) a circular cartouche with a central bead; the date split on either side of his head; a floral console supporting a shelf bearing a flagon, a tankard and a goblet; a circular cartouche with a central bead, a mirrored image of the one in the top left corner; from the top of the cartouche a dog leaping up at its master; between the man’s legs a long-handled ladle, a weight and a cooking pot; a ringer, used to pull slag off molten iron; part of the elevation of a blast furnace, with wooden framework, casting house, and flames issuing from the top; an ore basket, wheelbarrow and a charcoal clamp.

Notes: A pastiche of the 1636 original Lenard fireback (no. 429), now often mistaken for it; the inscription is missing, as are the fireback and the shield each being replaced by a form of cartouche; the figure of the man is more naturalistically modelled, yet wearing similar clothes; his feet face outwards.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1639