Images(2)

Stove Plate

Date1805

Manufactured by Redwell Furnace

Made under direction of Mayberry & Pennybacker

Artist/Maker Andrew Bear (or Baer, Bare)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Page County

MediumCast iron

DimensionsOverall: 26 1/4 x 32 3/4 x 1 1/2in. (66.7 x 83.2 x 3.8cm)

Credit LineGift of R. Angus Murdoch

Object number1985-181

DescriptionRectangular cast iron side panel from a ten plate stove with a raised molded frame. A large rectangular aperture for an oven door (now missing) is flanked by a catch on the left and two pintles on the right side. Decorated with scrolling foliage, "C" scrolls, and two ribbons at the top bearing the ironmaster's names MAYBERRY and PENNYBACKER, with the "&" hidden in a loop at the top center. Below the door opening is a double-handled urn flanked by "A B," the initials of the pattern carver, with the date "18 05" between the bottom molding and the two "C" scrolls.
Label TextAppearing in early American homes in the mid-1760s, the "ten plate" stove was a much-improved version of earlier types. These heating devices included extra iron plates which were used to create an internal cooking oven set into one of the stove's sides. Its airy decoration displays common neoclassical motifs and scrolls, and includes the names of the masters of the furnace which produced it, the initials of the maker of the plate pattern, and the date it was cast.

After entering into a partnership in 1800, Benjamin Pennypacker and George Mayberry took over the reins of Redwell Ironworks, and ran the business until they sold out in 1808. It is believed the pair employed Andrew Bear, a local pattern maker, to produce the carved masters from which their stove plates were cast.

ProvenancePurchased by the donor from J. Paul Hudson around 1975.

Exhibition(s)