Firebacks

Manufactured in 1548

  1. 207

    bray,_ockwells manor 01.jpg
    685 x 800 mm

    Description: Arched rectangular shape; ovolo-moulded edge; Tudor royal shield, crown, garter and supporters (dragon and greyhound). Crowned rose on left, and crowned portcullis (grid of 16) on right side of crown; the supporters stand on a horizontal fillet; date panel with ovolo-moulding on top, central putto face splitting two parts of date with faces of putti in profile at each end.

    Notes: Arms are of Edward VI. A very clear casting, almost certainly from the original pattern. There are several firebacks with the Tudor royal arms that were probably produced in the Spanish Netherlands, perhaps illustrating the association between England and Spain through the marriage of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The firebacks differ in several small details, such as the form and rotation of the Garter motto, the style of the crown, the positioning of the supporters in relation to the Garter, and the form and size of the crowned rose and portcullis.

    Copies of this fireback are known.

    Inscription: HONI SOIT QVI MAL I PENSE / 15 48

    Arms: Tudor royal Edward VI

    Manufactured: in 1548 possibly at Eisenschmitt Furnace in the Eifel area of Germany.

    Current location: Ockwells Manor, Cox Green, Berkshire, England.

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

    Citation: Kippenberger, A. 1973, Die Kunst der Ofenplatten (Düsseldorf, Verlag Stahleisen), p. 107.

    Citation: Schubert, H. R., 1957, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry (London, Routledge), pp. 256-264.

    Citation: Schubert, H. R., Jan 1954, 'Historical Note No. 33: A Famous English Fireback of 1548', Journal of the Iron & Steel Institute, 176, p. 63.