Firebacks

Description: Arch-shaped; fillet edge; Tudor shield, crown (with a circlet of acanthus leaves), garter (motto clockwise) and supporters. Crowned rose on dexter, and crowned portcullis (grid of 16) on sinister side of crown; the supporters, a dragon and a greyhound, stand on separate plinths; on the plinth below the greyhound is the number 28, probably half of the date 1528, the other part missing on the left side.

Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis.

Inscription: HONY SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE / 28

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arched shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, over-pressed Tudor rose stamp on a square block; large diamond-shaped stamp with fleur-de-lys repeated each side below rose, both over-pressed.

Notes: The diamond-shaped stamp has been seen on other firebacks; one of the stamps appears to have been repositioned twice before casting.

Description: Arched; cavetto edging; crowned plain shield bearing a Tudor rose, with crowned lion and dragon supporters, with garter and motto; date split by crown.

Notes: The numerals are more typically 16th century in form than are found on copies produced from the late-19th century (see no. 178), suggesting this may be the original design; illustration from Dawson (1903).

Inscription: 15 71 / T K; [English royal, and garter, mottoes].

Description: Arch-shaped; fillet edge; at top, date split by crown (horizontal of '7' missing), crown over a Tudor shield, garter (motto clockwise but reversed) and supporters; rose with viscount's coronet on dexter, and portcullis (grid of 16) with viscount's coronet on sinister side of crown; the supporters, a dragon and a greyhound, stand on separate plinths; the initials, G C, are placed in either side of the garter buckle.

Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably originally produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the shape of the shield, the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis. Hôtel Drouot auction, Paris, 21 Jan 2023, lot 89.

Inscription: 15 70 / HONY SOYT QVI MAL Y PENSE / G C

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arched; cavetto edging; crowned plain shield bearing a Tudor rose, with crowned lion and dragon supporters, with garter and motto; date split by crown.

Notes: A much-copied fireback; the numerals are uncharacteristically modern in form, suggesting they have been substituted on a later copy; a variant illustrated by Dawson (no. 269) shows a cross above the crown and more typically 16th century numerals. Formerly part of the Ade Collection (from Grove Hill, Hellingly, Sussex).

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 1571 HONI SOIT... ...DROI ? K

Description: Arched shape; cavetto moulded edge; double-headed eagle displayed, a crown above; in front, a quartered shield.

Notes: The shield bears the arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1519-1556), king of Spain and nephew of Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England.

Arms: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Description: Arched; cavetto-moulded edging; English royal Stuart shield, garter, crown, supporters, and motto on a cartouche; a monogram of S and C lies to the left of the Garter buckle; a small rose stamp is repeated each side of crown; date split each side of top of crown.

Notes: Although English arms, the design is in a continental style, arched firebacks being typical of Lorraine. In some later recastings the proportions have been distorted, making them narrower, and the '16' of the date is missing. The fireback illustrated was formerly in the city museum of Vlissingen in the Netherlands.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 21 / HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE / SC / DIEV ET MON DROIT

Arms: English Stuart royal (James I)

Description: Arched shape with ovolo-moulded edging; central shield with the English royal Tudor arms and an inescutcheon of a lion rampant, surrounded by a Garter with an incorrect inscription, the shield surmounted by a crown and supported on the dexter side by a dragon and on the sinister side by a greyhound; to the left of the crown, a crowned rose and the the right, a crowned portcullis; above the supporters the date 1614 is split by the shield; below, split by the Garter buckle, initials GB.

Notes: The arms are of Henry VII or Henry VIII, the inescutcheon probably representing a marriage to an heiress, but are anachronistic as the date was in the reign of James I (and VI). The initials GB are believed to relate to Gilles or Georges Boniver, who worked at the foundry at Theux, near Liège, and whose initials appear on several firebacks. The fireback is thought to be a 19th-century copy.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: 16 14 / HONI SOIT IL QVIMAL I PANSE / G B

Arms: English royal Tudor with an inescutcheon of a lion rampant

Description: Arched; fillet edging; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown and supporters (dragon and greyhound); top left, crowned Tudor rose; top right, crowned portcullis (grid of 6).

Notes: There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Low-arched shape within broad fillet edging; on a plain field a Tudor royal shield, quarterly France Modern and England, supported by a stylised dragon and greyhound and surmounted by a crown, all resting on a two-stepped compartment with cavetto- and astragal-moulded edging at the top.

Notes: Pastiche 'Tudor' design by George Shaw of Saddleworth, Lancashire, c.1850, possibly intended to be passed off as genuine Tudor. Examples are also to be found in Warkworth Castle and Cheetham's Library, Manchester, both with a leaf pattern on the edging and 'scales' on the dragon. Firebacks of the same armorial design within a different, arched rectangular, edging are known, an example being at Hever Castle, Kent.

Arms: Tudor royal