Firebacks

1195mm wide

  1. 347

    ightham_mote  06.jpg
    1195 x 688 mm

    Description: Rectangular; twisted rope edging (top and sides); central Tudor shield, garter, crown and supporters (greyhound and lion), formed from separate stamps; date on a single stamp in top left corner.

    Notes: The worn appearance of the central arms, compared with the clarity of the date, suggests that this is an early example of a fireback being used as a pattern, with the addition of a subsequent date. The same stamps forming the arms can also be seen on other firebacks. The extension of the lower part of the ‘3’ on the date stamp suggests that the numbers may have been fixed to the backing block, rather than the date being carved as a whole. Another variant of this fireback has the rope edging extending only three-quarters of the way down the sides.

    Inscription: 1583

    Arms: Tudor royal

    Manufactured: in 1583 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Ightham Mote, Ightham, Kent, England.

    Museum number: 825358 (part of the National Trust museum group)

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