The William K. du Pont Collection: Important Americana from Rocky Hill

The William K. du Pont Collection: Important Americana from Rocky Hill

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 273. English Cast Iron 'Lion Passant' Fireback, Dated 1649.

English Cast Iron 'Lion Passant' Fireback, Dated 1649

No reserve

Auction Closed

January 23, 10:36 PM GMT

Estimate

1,500 - 2,500 USD

Lot Details

Description

English Cast Iron 'Lion Passant' Fireback

Dated 1649


With the Scottish lion and thistle supported by the English rose and French fleur-de-lis. Initialed IM lower proper left.  

Height 26 3/4 in. by Width 30 1/4 in.

Katherine Prentis Murphy, Saybrook, Connecticut;
Bernard and S. Dean Levy Inc., New York.
As King Charles I was executed in 1649, this fireback may have been made in reference to the Scottish origin of the Stuart dynasty.  An identical example is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (acc. no. 492-1901) (see Jeremy Hodgkinson, British Cast-Iron Firebacks of the 16th and 17th Centuries, (Worth, Crawley: Hodgersbooks, 2010), p. 178, no. 258).