Firebacks

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

Description: Rectangular shape with a flattened arch; astragal edging; top centre, stamp depicting a man and a woman in medieval dress, with inscribed date split to each side; in each corner and angled towards the corner, a triangular stamp formed of two mirrored sea serpents, their tails looped through a band, which also supports a flower rising from the serpents mouths; bottom centre, the weak impression of gadrooned vase fireback.

Notes: A bespoke fireback incorporating pseudo-antique elements, a spurious date inscribed by hand with a, probably deliberate, error in the orientation of the number 9. The 'medieval' couple and the corner stamps have yet to be identified. The impressed fireback is of the mid-17th century of the type illustrated as no. 1189.

Inscription: 16 59 [9 reversed]