Firebacks

686mm wide

  1. 204

    blanchland_church.jpg
    686 x 559 mm

    Description: Canted rectangle; twisted rope edging (top and sides); Tudor royal shield and Garter with crown above, between lion and unicorn supporters; initials separated by crown; a small ring and bar are placed to the left of the unicorn’s mouth.

    Notes: The Tudor shield and crown feature on many Wealden firebacks, and have here been reused with Jacobean supporters; their stamps are derived from standing models.

    Inscription: I R

    Arms: Tudor royal

    Manufactured: in the early-17th century possibly at Pounsley Furnace, Framfield in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: St Mary's Abbey, Blanchland, Northumberland, England.

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

  2. 1080

    boston,_museum of fine arts.jpg
    686 x 641 mm

    Description: Cast-iron fireback consisting of a panel with an arched top and scrolled ears. Decorated with reliefs, foliate borders at the sides, and in the centre with a coat of arms consisting of a shield, three castles separated by a chevron with an open compass, and with crest of a bird with a leafed branch in its beak, all elaborated with foliage. Motto along arched crest; motto in scroll below arms; maker’s name along bottom.

    Notes: The arms are essentially those of the Premier Grand Lodge of England, granted in 1717, differenced by the motto; the Massachusetts Lodge was founded in 1733; the blazon is an adaptation of the arms of the Worshipful Company of Masons. Joseph Webb was a Boston ironmonger and chandler; his 1765 trade card was designed by fellow Freemason Paul Revere, who may also have cast the fireback.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: THE • FREE • MASONS • ARMS / FOLLOW • REASON / SOLD • BY • JOSEPH • WEBB • BOSTON

    Arms: Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Freemasons

    Manufactured: in the mid- to late-18th century probably at North End Ironworks, Boston in the Massachusetts area of United States of America.

    Current location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

    Museum number: 1982.618 (part of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts museum group)

  3. 893

    denhams_(warnham) 23-10-12 686x.jpg
    686 x ~624 mm

    Description: Rectangular with complex quasi-arched rectangular top; ovolo moulded edging; shield with Royal arms of France in a swirled cartouche, initials inserted at top of shield; above, an English crown; below to right and left, a prancing stag.

    Notes: The combination of the English crown and French arms is common and may relate to the marriage of Charles I and Princess Henrietta Maria of France in 1625; although the framing of the pattern is very similar to others of the same basic design, the style suggests a different pattern maker. A recasting of an earlier back with inserted initials.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: IT

    Arms: France modern

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

    Current location:, not known.

  4. 1165

    trefriw,_gwydir_castle_03.jpg
    686 x 610 mm

    Description: Canted rectangular shape; braided rope edging (top and sides); top centre, initials 'TSE' in triad, above centred date.

    Notes: The use of braided rope edging is unusual. The fireback was formerly in a house in Westmoreland associated with the Salkeld family.

    Inscription: TSE [triad] / 1612

    Manufactured: in 1612 in England.

    Current location: Gwydir Castle, Trefriw, Conwy, Wales.