Fireback

last quarter 17th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 531

Fireback: a rectangular plaque with a broken arch at the top surmounted by a vase with flames issuing from the top, and below, scrolls with depending husk ornament framing a double coat of arms in relief depicting an oval shield (sinister), barry, and an oval shield (dexter), charged with three pine cones, 2 and 1, with rampant lion supporters and surmounted by a coronet with alternating strawberry leaves and fleurs-de-lis, below the arms, a scrolled plinth ornamented with a grotesque mask. The arms are unidentified.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Fireback
Date: last quarter 17th century
Culture: French
Medium: Cast iron
Dimensions: Overall: 48 × 40 1/2 in. (121.9 × 102.9 cm)
Classification: Metalwork-Iron
Credit Line: Purchase, Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, 1995
Object Number: 1995.134
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Costume Armor in the Classical Style, Hallé French, Helmet: linen, papier-mâché, bole, gold leaf, graphite; tunic: silk, cotton, metal coils and spangles, metallic yarn, French, Paris — Costume Armor in the Classical Style
Helmet includes original paper label of Hallé
ca. 1788–90

Fireback, Cast iron, French — Fireback
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1675 or later

Small desk with folding top (bureau brisé), Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt Dutch, Oak, pine, walnut veneered with ebony, rosewood, and marquetry of tortoiseshell and engraved brass; gilt bronze and steel, French, Paris — Small desk with folding top (bureau brisé)
Marquetry by Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt
Designer Designed and possibly engraved by Jean Berain
ca. 1685

Armor of Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias (1707–1724), Jean Drouart French, Steel, gold, brass, silk, cotton, metallic yarn, paper, French, Paris — Armor of Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias (1707–1724)
Armorer Signature probably refers to Jean Drouart
dated 1712

Fireback, Nicholas Fowle, Cast iron, British, Sussex — Fireback
Possibly by Nicholas Fowle
1608

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