Photo: Nicolas Gifford-Mead
Fire grate with iron back plate and basket above a moulded brass apron flanked by brass column standards surmounted by ball finials. English.
Unknown Artist
- Art Funded
- 2020
- Vendor
- Nicholas Gifford-Mead
Known as a ‘stove grate’, this is a rare survival of a once common domestic object.
Such grates came into use in the first half of the 18th century as a successor to firedogs, which had previously been used to hold logs. The new grates were able to hold coal or logs and marked a significant development in domestic heating technology.
This fine example shows a Palladian influence, with brass uprights that are decorated in a plain classical order and surmounted by ball finials.
The museum at Fulham Palace aims to tell the story of the building and its role as home to the Bishops of London. This fire grate is the first item to be purchased for the project to furnish Bishop Sherlock’s dining room as it might have appeared in the 1750s.
Provenance
No documented provenance. The vendor notes: “ï“ç“reputedly from the Stowe estate“ï“ç“û.