Firebacks

805mm wide

  1. 810

    bray,_ockwells manor 02.jpg
    805 x 654 mm

    Description: Rectangular; carved strip with undulating vine between fillets, repeated on each side; carved inscription panel along top edge; centre, two traceried panels, each with a central shield beneath a gothic arch.

    Notes: One of several similar firebacks produced in the same period.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: JHESUS MARIA JHONES

    Manufactured: in the early 16th century possibly in the Eifel area of Germany.

    Current location: in private hands, Cox Green, Berkshire, England.

    Citation: Driesch, K. von den , 1990, Handbuch der Ofen-, Kamin- und Takenplatten im Rheinland (Cologne, Rheinland-Verlag).

  2. 852

    bridgewater_collection 06.jpg
    ?805 x ?590 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; cyma recta (ogee) moulded edging (top and sides); fleur-de-lys stamp repeated three times across the upper part of the plate; a long pastry mould stamped between each pair of fleurs; above the central fleur, a small stamp, over-pressed, bearing FL below a coronet; above the right fleur, a small stamp, over-pressed, bearing a fish embowed.

    Notes: The food moulds are variations of others used in the same series.

    Inscription: FL

    Manufactured: in the mid to late 16th century possibly at Pounsley furnace in the Weald area of England.

    Current location:.

  3. 217

    brighton_museum 09.jpg
    805 x 646 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo edging; date in arch; below arch, two parallel straps, each with a buckle at the top; initials left and right of centre; rectangular stamp with bird, four times across top.

    Notes: The buckles suggest a connection with the Pelham family; the initials may relate to Sir Thomas Pelham, Bt. (1597-1654) who owned and operated ironworks at Waldron and Crowhurst in Sussex.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: 1642 / T P

    Manufactured: in 1642 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton, East Sussex, England.

    Museum number: HA105912 (part of the Brighton Museum museum group)

    Citation: Lindsay, J. S., 1927, Iron & Brass Implements of the English House (London, The Medici Society).

  4. 39

    cranbrook_museum.jpg
    805 x 640 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Quasi-arched rectangular shaped with cavetto canted top corners; fillet edging; two V-shaped arrangements of laths, one inverted and superimposed over the other, in centre of plate; date split on either side; initials in triangular arrangement above laths.

    Notes: The shape of the fireback is very similar to firebacks at Knole, Sevenoaks, of similar date, and may be the product of the same furnace; the 'X' shapes may have apotropaic significance.

    Inscription: 17 RSL 28

    Manufactured: in 1728 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Cranbrook Museum, Cranbrook, Kent, England.

    Citation: Easton, T. & Hodgkinson, J. S., 2013, 'Apotropaic Symbols on Cast-Iron Firebacks', Jnl. of the Antique Metalware Soc., 21, pp. 14-33.

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

  5. 514

    penshurst_05.jpg
    805 x 630 mm
    Image subject to copyright

    Description: Rectangular; ovolo-moulded edging (top and sides); inscription along top of plate.

    Notes: The initials may relate to Robert, 2nd Earl of Leicester.

    Inscription: R · 1647 · L

    Manufactured: in 1647 in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: Penshurst Place, Penshurst, Kent, England.