Firebacks

Shape: rectangular with canted top corners

120 results

  1. 461

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 103.jpg
    690 x 615 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging; irregularly spaced, 5 x 5 rope grid; damage to top right corner.

    Notes: A 5 x 3 variant is also known.

    Manufactured: in the mid- to late-16th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: 1944.24.046 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

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

  2. 1048

    lewes,_sussex arch soc 107.jpg
    607 x 413 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); two saltires formed of twisted rope irregularly arranged.

    Notes: The small size suggests a 17th rather than a 16th century date. Formerly part of the J. H. Every collection.

    Manufactured: in the late-16th to early-17th century in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Anne of Cleves House, Southover High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: LH000.919 (part of the Sussex Archaeological Society museum group)

  3. 946

    lindfield,_woodsland farm 02.jpg
    832 x 500 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); initials in triad to left of date (7 reversed), all between two twisted rope saltires.

    Notes: The distinctive form of the number '5' has been seen on another fireback indicating a common source.

    Inscription: RAE [triad] 1657

    Manufactured: in 1657 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Lindfield, West Sussex, England.

  4. 864

    ludlow_museum.jpg
    980 x 675 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; double fillet edging (top and sides); top centre, date; initials in triad, repeated on each side, with a fleur-de-lys between; three fleurs-de-lys evenly spaced below initial groups.

    Notes: The initials are believed to be those of Edward Robinson, a bookseller, and his wife of 16 King Street, Ludlow, where the fireback was discovered.

    Inscription: 1688 / ERI ERI [both triads]

    Manufactured: in 1688 possibly in the Shropshire area of England.

    Current location: Ludlow Museum. The Buttercross, Ludlow, Shropshire, England.

    (part of the Ludlow Museum museum group)

    Citation: Moran, M., 2003, Vernacular Buildings of Shropshire (Almeley, Logaston Press).

  5. 1036

    maidstone_museum 18.jpg
    845 x 675 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; no edging; lower centre, carved pattern panel of Stuart Royal arms: shield, garter, crown, motto, supporters and initials, RI separated by crown; lion statant guardant stamp repeated five times, three across top, one each side feet to left.

    Notes: The impression of the decorative elements is irregular, with the achievement of arms under-pressed and the three lion stamps along the top over-pressed; the distinctive feature of the unicorn's horn in front of the initial R has been seen on a small number of other firebacks. From a photograph in the J. Starkie Gardner Collection, Victoria & Albert Museum, Archive of Art and Design (AAD/2014/8).

    Inscription: I R

    Arms: English Stuart royal - James I

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

    Current location: Maidstone Museum, St Faith's Street, Maidstone, Kent, England.

    (part of the Maidstone Museum museum group)

  6. 970

    maryland.jpg
    711 x 508 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging; date along the top; initials in triad across the middle, inside canted rectangular rope border; fleur-de-lys stamp repeated five times down each side.

    Notes: The initials probably represent those of a married couple, the 'V' for their surname; it is relatively unusual for twisted rope edging to continue along the bottom of the plate. The back was found in Massachusetts and may have been brought there by an early colonist.

    Inscription: 1626 / MVS

    Manufactured: in 1626 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Herndon, Virginia, United States of America.

  7. 1077

    minster-on-sea,_scocles manor.jpg
    1180 x 465 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; astragal edging (top and sides); symmetrically arranged, initials separated by overpressed, fillet edged stamp bearing letters WF surmounted by a bent arm holding a battleaxe issuing from a chapeau; beneath are two shields bearing the arms of Fowle.

    Notes: The shield and crest stamps relate to William Fowle (1568-1634) and are those used on iron grave slabs in Wadhurst and Frant churches and in Maidstone museum, as well as on other firebacks. The initials have not been identified. Another casting with the same set of initials, but in a slightly different arrangement, has been noted (no. 68), and Christy (1908 p.386) reported on another with slots for two firedogs.

    Inscription: EC DT / WF

    Arms: William Fowle, of Frant and Wadhurst

    Manufactured: in the early- to mid-17th century probably at Riverhall Furnace, Wadhurst in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Minster-on-Sea, Kent, England.

    Citation: Christy, M., 30 May 1908, 'The Old Flat Hearth and its Appliances, III - The Fire-back', The Crown, The Court and County Families' Newspaper, XCIX, Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 383-6.

  8. 1314

    newent,_smiths_funeral_services.jpg
    975 x 610 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; hatched fillet edging (top and sides); initials in triad to the left; fleur-de-lys stamp repeated seven times across top; date and initial pairs below; full width, horizontal hatched fillet below inscription; zig-zag formed of short, hatched fillets down each side below horizontal fillet; space within bordered by squared cross stamp repeated 12 times horizontally and six times on each side.

    Notes: The distinctive squared cross and fleur stamps are seen on other firebacks; the initials in triad may relate to a husband and wife, the pairs of initials to their children; an almost identical fireback seen at Coombes in West Sussex (no. 1023) differs only in the alignment of the left-hand column of squared crosses. Unearthed close to the site of Elmbridge Furnace, at Newent, Gloucestershire.

    Inscription: AHE [triad] 1671 WH MH

    Manufactured: in 1671 possibly at Elmbridge Furnace, Newent in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: Smith's Funeral Services, Furnace Lane, Newent, Gloucestershire, England.

  9. 924

    pimlico,_gifford mead 01.jpg
    550 x 600 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; elaborate cavetto moulded edging (top and sides); strapwork shield with a demi-flower at each side, between initials; arms quarterly of six, 1st Or two chevronels Gules, on a canton of the last a mullet of the first (Pope); 2nd Argent three bars Gules, on a canton ermine a bend of lozenges of the second (Walshe); 3rd Sable three laurel leaves in bend Or between two bendlets Argent (Waller); 4th Azure a chevron between three crosses Moline Argent (Lansdale); 5th Ermine on a bend Gules three lions' heads erased Or (Weston); 6th Azure a lion rampant Or supporting a cross pat?e fitch?e of the second (Pichingham).

    Notes: The lower part of the shield is revealed more clearly in another casting. The date above the shield has been inserted before casting and differs slightly from another example of the same back.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1625 / S P

    Arms: Pope (Sackevile Pope (b. 1589) of Hendall, in Buxted, Sussex)

    Manufactured: in 1625 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:, L.T.C. Rolt - Life, Work, Legacy A Joint Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust / Keele University Conference 9th - 11th May 2024 Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire Click here for details.

    Citation: Hodgkinson, J. S., 2013, 'A Pope family fireback', Wealden Iron, Bulletin of the Wealden Iron Research Group, 33, pp. 27-31.

  10. 910

    pimlico,_gifford mead 06a.jpg
    762 x 508 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; cavetto-moulded edging (top and sides); single horizontal fillet below canted corners and vertical fillet parallel to each side, dividing the fireback into two side panels, two top corner panels, top panel and main central panel; corner panels, ‘daisy’ plant stamp; top panel, central initials between split date, separated by 'daisy' stamps; side panels, swirling foliage stamp repeated each side, initial at bottom of panel: I to the left, B to the right.

    Notes: The 'daisy' stamp and the IB initials are found on other backs in a distinct series. The foliage stamp is not known on other backs in the series. Christie's Interiors - Masters & Makers (Sale 5462), South Kensington, London, 8 July 2014, lot 126 (£688).

    Inscription: 17 IS 07 / I B

    Manufactured: in 1707 in the Forest of Dean area of England.

    Current location: not known.