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844
Description: Arched rectangular central panel; fillet edging; pictorial scene of a cloaked figure, to the right, tempting a dog, to the left, with a tasty morsel; behind are the outlines of a door and window; arched rectangular border with fillet edging, the date along the bottom; down each side, a floral festoon; over the arch, the inscription, the initials split between each side of the main inscription; on top, floral scrolls.
Notes: The inscription translates as 'loyalty above gifts'; some castings omit the initials, NL, indicating that they were a subsequent addition. The illustration is derived from 'The thief and the dog', one of a series of engravings of Aesop's Fables by Wenceslaus Hollar.
Copies of this fireback are known.
Inscription: N / FIDES DONA SUPERAT / L // 1696
- Decoration tags:
- 'Dutch' (shape)
- fillet (edging)
- whole carved pattern
- individual letters
- planklines
- pictorial
- allegorical
- text
- animals
- humans
Manufactured: in 1696 possibly in the Siegerland area of Germany.
Current location: English Heritage Store, Atcham Business Park, Atcham, Shropshire, England.
Museum number: EH ASC 4491 (part of the English Heritage museum group)
- Attached to series:
- 'Dutch' 1696 NL series