{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O324678"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O324678/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010EF7973/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010EF7973/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2010EF7973","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KT7912","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KT7920","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O324678/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O324678","accessionNumber":"255-1906","objectType":"Fireback","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Firebacks were used at the back of fireplaces, and served both to throw the heat of the fire forward into a room and to protect the stonework or brickwork behind. The patterns on firebacks were created by pressing one or more pattern-moulds (generally of carved wood) into a bed of sand. After removing the moulds, the liquid iron was then poured into the impression left by the mould and allowed to cool. \r\n\r\nThe oak tree was associated with Charles II after his famous escape in 1651, after the final Royalist defeat of the Civil War at the Battle of Worcester, when he hid in an oak tree near Boscobel House (near Wolverhampton). This fireback commemorates this event which continued to be celebrated long after it occurred.","physicalDescription":"Rectangular with a domed top, depicting a spreading oak tree, supporting three crowns, one at the top and one on either side, and the initials C R","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"iron","id":"AAT11002"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cast iron","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Ironwork","id":"THES251837"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2010EF7973","2018KT7912","2018KT7920"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"NatCivWarCen","id":"THES287467"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Fireback","id":"AAT3985"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"mid 17th century","earliest":"1625-01-01","latest":"1675-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"made after 1651"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"76","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"10/07/2019","earliest":"2019-07-10","latest":"2019-07-10"},"part":"maximum, across middle of the fireback","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"61","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"10/07/2019","earliest":"2019-07-10","latest":"2019-07-10"},"part":"Height at both ends of the fireback","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"90.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"10/07/2019","earliest":"2019-07-10","latest":"2019-07-10"},"part":"maximum, across front of fireback","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"10/07/2019","earliest":"2019-07-10","latest":"2019-07-10"},"part":"Maximum depth at sides.","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"77","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"08/07/2019","earliest":"2019-07-08","latest":"2019-07-08"},"part":"","note":"Weighed by Allen Irvine."}],"dimensionsNote":"Weight taken by Allen Irvine.","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Cast with the initials C R","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"(for Carolus Rex; in this case King Charles II)"}],"objectHistory":"Iron to be used for casting had to be heated to liquid form, which required a very high temperature. It is not known exactly when this became technically possible, but it was probably in the course of the 15th century. Firebacks survive  which can be dated to the 16th century. They were used at the back of fireplaces, which were newly fashionable, and these firebacks served both to throw the heat of the fire forward into a room and to protect the brickwork. The patterns on firebacks were created by pressing one or more pattern-moulds into a bed of sand. After removing the moulds, the liquid iron was then poured in and allowed to cool. \n\nThis design was apparently first used under James I of England and VI of Scotland, to signify the Union under him of England, Scotland and Ireland. The initials on this fireback may be those of either Charles I or II. The oak was particularly associated with Charles II after his famous escape in 1651, after the Battle of Worcester, when he hid in the Boscobel oak.\r\n\r\nMoulds for firebacks were generally of carved wood, but a fireback can itself act as a mould, perpetuating the same design for many generations, and sometimes making the dating of an iron fireback an inexact science. Firebacks can be made more difficult to date, as several popular designs were replicated in the 1920s and 30s .","historicalContext":"The museum is grateful for images and information supplied by the researcher and author, Jeremy Hodgkinson FSA, 30 March 2022","briefDescription":"Fireback, cast iron, showing an oak tree with three crowns and the initials CR, England (probably Weald), mid 17th c (after 1651).","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Campbell, Marian. <u>An Introduction to Ironwork</u>. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1985. 48 p., ill. ISBN 0112904157","id":"AUTH316061"},"details":"fig.61, p.43","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Gardner, John Starkie. <u>Ironwork. Part 3: A complete survey of the artistic working of iron in Great Britain from the earliest times</u>. London : Published under the authority of the H.M.S.O., 1922. 198 p., 46 p. of plates, ill. ISBN 0905209028.","id":"AUTH317254"},"details":"p.158","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lloyd, N. Domestic Ironwork. I. Firebacks. Archaeological Review. LVIII, 1925.  pp.58-67."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lenygon, F. <u>Decoration in England</u>. London, 1914. pp.239-287, fig.254."},{"reference":{"text":"Hodgkinson, Jeremy. <u>British Cast-Iron Firebacks of the 16th to Mid-18th Centuries</u>. Crawley: HodgersBooks. 2010","id":"AUTH344846"},"details":"fig. 242, pp. 171, 254-5","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"oak tree","id":"x40129"},{"text":"crowns (headdresses)","id":"AAT46020"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Fire","id":"x47334"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"FIREBACK\nCast iron\nEngland; c. 1660-85\n\nAn oak tree with three crowns seems to have been used first during the reign of King James I  and VI of England and Scotland (1603-25) to signify the 'Union of the Kingdoms' - England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but in this case the initials CR are possibly those of King Charles II (1660-85). It is likely that the tree refers to the Boscobel Oak in which he hid from his Cromwellian pursuers from 3rd to 6th September 1650 and escaped to regain the throne in 1660.\n\nMuseum No. 255-1906","date":{"text":"07/1994","earliest":"1994-07-01","latest":"1994-07-31"}},{"text":"Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars label text: \r\n\r\nFireback\r\n1651–1700\r\n\r\nFirebacks protect fireplaces and reflect heat into a room. Made from the 15th century onwards in England, they soon became decorative as well as functional. This example commemorates Charles II as Prince of Wales evading capture in 1651 at the end of the English Civil War. He hid in an oak tree near Boscobel House, Shropshire.\r\n\r\nEngland (probably Weald)\r\nIron, cast\r\nDecorated with the Royal Boscobel oak and ‘C R’ for Charles Rex\r\n(Charles II)\r\nV&A 255-1906","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["255-1906"],"accessionNumberNum":"255","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1906,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-07-24","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}