Firebacks

1010mm wide

  1. 1028

    broadway,_lygon arms 02a.jpg
    1010 x 930 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; twisted rope edging (top and sides); date in arch; initial triads in top shoulders of plate; small mask patera repeated once above date and on each side of 'H' initials.

    Notes: The small mask patera has not been seen on other firebacks.

    Inscription: 1631 / WHK [triad] WHK [triad]

    Manufactured: in 1631 in England.

    Current location: The Lygon Arms, High Street, Broadway, Worcestershire, England.

  2. 911

    crowhurst,_adams farm.jpg
    1010 x 575 mm

    Description: Plain rectangular plate; no edging; top centre, date with '7' reversed; below date, initials in triad.

    Notes: The reversed '7' indicates that the numerals, and probably the letters, had no backing; the initials are probably those of a husband and wife whose surname began with 'H'.

    Inscription: 1676 / BHM

    Manufactured: in 1676 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Crowhurst, East Sussex, England.

  3. 176

    hastings_museum 063b.jpg
    >1010 x 780 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Probably rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); two (originally probably three) panels divided by vertical twisted rope, each containing a rounded shield with fillet edge with 'ihs' (the 'h' crossed), between two cartouche-style shields with fillet edge, bearing a cross rising from two concentric rings.

    Notes: The overtly religious symbolism may indicate a pre-Reformation or Marian date. The christogram, 'ihs', derived from the first three letters of 'IESUS' in Greek, was first noted in England in the 14th century. The cross rising from the rings may be intended to indicate christian dominion over the globe. Possibly as much as the right third of the fireback is missing. The fireback is believed to have been in Robertsbridge Abbey.

    Inscription: ihs ihs

    Manufactured: in the early-16th century possibly in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John's Place, Bohemia Road, h, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: HASMG: 1914.38 (part of the Hastings Museum museum group)

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

  4. 950

    horsted_keynes,_broadhurst_01a.jpg
    1010 x 740 mm

    Description: Rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); date top centre.

    Notes: The style of the numerals is identical to those seen on another fireback, indicating a common source.

    Inscription: 1658

    Manufactured: in 1658 possibly at Tintern Furnace in the Forest of Dean area of Wales.

    Current location: in private hands, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex, England.

  5. 962

    wisborough_green, harsfold farmhouse.jpg
    1010 x 795 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo moulded edging; Tudor royal shield, garter, crown, motto and supporters (crowned lion and dragon); plain panels at sides and bottom.

    Notes: A common variant has a rose and portcullis either side of the crown, and the top of the lion's crown and the dragon's ear do not overlap the edging; without the extension panels, the approximate dimensions of the main plate are 805mm wide by 590 high. The quality of the relief indicates that this composite fireback was created using an early casting of the armorial back.

    Inscription: [Garter] HONI SOIT QVI MAL E PENSE / [motto] DIEV ET MON DROIT

    Arms: Tudor royal

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

    Current location: in private hands, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, England.