Firebacks

Description: Arch shaped; rope edging (top and sides); top centre, crowned cartouche with initials F S linked with twisted cord; below, two cartouches, each bearing a 7-pointed star, and each separating the paired initials HG.

Notes: The national origin of this fireback is a little uncertain. A variant of this fireback (no. 767) has slightly different proportions and relative positions of the stamps.

Inscription: F S / H G H G

Description: Arched shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); top centre, shield of impaled arms; date above shield; initials, in triad ('F above), to right of shield.

Notes: The arms are of Sir Peter Frecheville (1575-1634) of Staveley Hall, Derbyshire, and his first wife, Joyce Osborne, née Fleetwood (d.1619), whom he had married in the year of the fireback's casting; the blazon is as follows: (Frecheville) Azure, a bend between six escallops argent; (Fleetwood) Per pale nebuly or and azure, six martlets, two, two and two counterchanged (the tinctures, as painted, are incorrect). At the bottom of the fireback there appears to be the remains of a runner by which the molten iron flowed into the sand mould.

Inscription: 1605 / PFI [triad]

Arms: Frecheville impaling Fleetwood

Description: Arched shape with scrolled side brackets; astragal edging on arch; bipartite design with side pilasters and a central pilaster surmounted by two gothic traceried arches within each of which are two roses and two fleurs-de-lys; below left arch, letter ‘W’ (possibly ‘WY’ monogram) above first half of date; below right arch, shield bearing arms of the Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon above second half of date.

Notes: The combination of the monogram and the arms of Stratford suggest an individual with a formal office within the borough; a mixture of Gothic and Classical elements; damage to bottom right side.

Inscription: W [Y?] / 15 85

Arms: Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon

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. Another casting in this form is to be found in The Guildhall, Lichfield. More decorated examples exist, 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.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arched shape; cavetto-moulded edge; Tudor royal shield, crown, garter (with inscription anti-clockwise) and supporters (dragon and greyhound); crowned rose on left, and crowned portcullis on right side of crown; the supporters stand on a horizontal fillet, to the bottom right of which is the end of an illegible inscription.

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: HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE / [illeg.]

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Fragment (top part only); arched; cavetto-moulded edging; shield, helm, crown and supporters royal house of Scotland.

Notes: The arms probably pre-date the union of the kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1603. The arched shape and style of execution suggest a possible continental origin for the design.

Inscription: IN DEFENS

Arms: Scotland royal pre 1603

Description: Arch-shaped; fillet edge; Tudor shield, crown, garter (motto clockwise but reversed) 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; the initials, G P 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 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. Part of the bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Lieut. Colonel G. B. Croft-Lyons in 1926.

Inscription: HONY SOYT QVI MAL Y PENSE / G P

Arms: Tudor royal

Description: Arch shaped; rope edging (top and sides); top centre, slightly over-pressed crowned cartouche with initials F S linked with twisted cord; below, two cartouches, each bearing a 7-pointed star, and each separating the paired initials HG.

Notes: The national origin of this fireback is a little uncertain. A variant of this fireback (no. 1306) has slightly different proportions and relative positions of the stamps.

Inscription: F S / H G H G

Description: Arched shape with bead edging; from top, large bead with four pairs of small beads in a cross shape, text with pellet surrounded by eight beads on each side of 'G', and at bottom.

Notes: Made by, and bearing the initials of Eric Gill and his wife, Mary, in 1930.

Inscription: E&M / G / MCM / XXX

Description: Low-arched shape within broad fillet edging marked with a repeated leaf pattern ascending toward the top; on an incised criss-cross field a Tudor royal shield, quarterly France Modern and England, supported by a stylised, scaly 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. Another casting in this form is in Cheetham's Library, Manchester. A variant exists without the leaf pattern on the edging and the 'scales' on the dragon. Firebacks of the same armorial design within a different, arched rectangular, edging are also known.

Copies of this fireback are known.

Arms: Tudor royal