Trumpeting Angel and Star Fireback

Date1790 to 1810

Possibly by Halbert & Moses McClure (fl. ca. 1790 - 1818)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Rockbridge County (possibly)

MediumCast iron

DimensionsWidth: 32" Height: 28 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1932-66

DescriptionHorizontally set "tombstone" shaped cast iron fireback. Completely plain, except for a rectangular beaded-edge panel surrounding a flying angel holding something in her left hand and blowing a trumpet towards and eight-pointed star.
Label TextBy the late 18th and early 19th century fewer firebacks were being cast by American iron furnaces, as the burning of coal in cast iron stoves began to replace the burning of wood in fireplaces. This neat and plain fireback reflects the transition from the ancient way of obtaining heat in the home to a more sophisticated system.

For centuries, a cast iron fireback was necessary for the economically run fireplace. Not just an ornament to the dark and soot-covered back of the firebox, a fireback shielded the brickwork behind it from the destructive heat of the fire. They also retained and reflected heat back into the room long after the fire died down, increasing the fireback’ s value.

While many earlier American firebacks were covered with all sorts of designs and motifs, this example is understated, only carrying the bordered scene of an angel blowing a trumpet towards a star. It is centered at the highest point of the casting, perhaps meant to evoke a prospect of the angel rising from the fire and calling towards the heavens. Due to the shape of the bordered panel, it is believed that the pattern used in creating this fireback was normally used to cast doors for "ten-plate stoves," where it would be rotated with the angel flying to the left.

This fireback bears strong similarities to others signed by, and attributed to, the Spring Forge works in Rockbridge County, Virginia, operated by Halbert and Moses McClure.
ProvenanceDescended through the Cabell family of Nelson Co. Virginia to the vendor, Mrs. Helen Gardner Moss (1872-1967). Mrs. Moss, whose mother was a Cabell, stated in 1931 that the fireback had been in her "old home," which dated "well back before the Revolution."