Description
This type of brass and steel grate with an integral iron fireback is associated with the iron foundries of the Sussex Weald.
Traditionally, cast iron fire backs were used from the middle ages to protect the brickwork at the back of the fireplace and to throw heat forward from logs resting on fire dogs on the hearth. Simple iron slabs became more decorative, from groups of initials to bold family crests, historical, mythological and religious subjects.
Sussex was a centre of iron manufacture and their firebacks, at this period copying Dutch and German designs are found throughout the UK. It seems logical that the businesses developed to make these early grates in the Weald by casting legs and finials in brass and smithing the baskets on site. Examples can be found in the Lewes Museum, and at Ann of Cleves House, Lewes.
