Images(2)

Fireback

Date1754

Manufactured by Oxford Furnace

Made under direction of Joseph Shippen Jr.

OriginAmerica, New Jersey, Warren County, Oxford

MediumCast iron

DimensionsOverall: 32 1/4 x 29 1/4 x 1in. (81.9 x 74.3 x 2.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1954-268

DescriptionCast iron fireback of "tombstone" shape with semicircular top, clipped corners and a beaded edge (Matthews-Type II). Central portion bears the Royal Arms of King George II of Great Britain. The date "17 - 54" in exergue, bisected by OXFORD (now partially illegible).
Label TextCreated in 1754 at the Oxford Furnace in New Jersey, this fireback is a masterpiece of American colonial cast iron, and is emblazoned with the Royal Arms of King George II of Great Britain. A few dozen examples of these are known, of three distinct types, and bearing dates between 1745 and 1762. Clearly popular before the Revolution, many have been noted in situ in their original hearths, spanning from the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania to the Albany, New York area.

The patterns from which Oxford Furnace's Royal Arms firebacks were made may have been carved by the famed Philadelphia firm of Bernard and Jugiez, who produced a similar heraldic pattern for those cast for the Fairfax family by Marlboro Furnace, near Middletown, Virginia.

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