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A fireboard or chimney board is a panel designed to cover a
fireplace
A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design.
...
during the warm months of the year.
It was "commonly used during the later 18th and early 19th centuries"
in places like France and
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. In warm weather, "a fireboard effectively reduced the number of mosquitoes and other insects, or even birds, that might enter a house through an open,
damperless chimney
A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...
."
The "board or shutterlike contrivance" typically "of wood or cast of sheet metal" is "frequently
decorated with painting and stencilling."
Some fireboards have notches cut out of the lowest edge to accommodate
andiron
An andiron or firedog, fire-dog or fire dog is a bracket support, normally found in pairs, on which logs are laid for burning in an open fireplace, so that air may circulate under the firewood, allowing better burning and less smoke. They gene ...
s.
Fireboards are also called: chimney boards, chimney pieces, chimney stops, fire boards, summer boards.
Among the many artists who have produced ornamental fireboards:
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
; Winthrop Chandler (1747–1790);
Andien de Clermont
Andien de Clermont (died 1783) was a French artist who worked in England in the 18th century (c.1716–1756). He was particularly known for his decorative flower paintingsChaudon et Delandine, eds. Nouveau dictionnaire historique. Lyon: Bruyset ...
;
Charles Codman
Charles Codman (1800 – September 11, 1842) was an American painter. A native of Portland, Maine, he was known for his landscape and marine paintings.
Career
Codman was apprenticed to the ornamental painter John Ritto Penniman, where he be ...
;
Michele Felice Cornè
Michele Felice Cornè (1752–1845) was an artist born in Elba who settled in the United States. He lived in Salem and Boston, Massachusetts; and in Newport, Rhode Island. He painted marine scenes, portraits, and interior decorations such as fir ...
;
Edward Hicks
Edward Hicks (April 4, 1780 – August 23, 1849) was an American folk painter and distinguished religious minister of the Society of Friends (aka "Quakers"). He became a Quaker icon because of his paintings.
Biography Early life
Edward ...
;
Jean-Baptiste Oudry
Jean-Baptiste Oudry (; 17 March 1686 – 30 April 1755) was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game. His son, Jacques-Ch ...
;
Rufus Porter Rufus Porter may refer to:
*Rufus Porter (painter)
Rufus Porter (May 1, 1792 – August 13, 1884) was an American painter, inventor, and founder of '' Scientific American'' magazine.
Famous family
Rufus Porter descended from an old coloni ...
.
Examples of decorated fireboards are in numerous collections, including: Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts; Historic New England; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA;
Peabody Essex Museum; Victoria & Albert Museum.
Images
Image:Fireboard view of Chatsworth Derbyshire byMicheleFeliceCorne.png, ''Fireboard with view of Chatsworth'', Derbyshire, England, by M.F. Corné
Image:Fireboard ca1825 NorthSunderlandMassachusetts SPNEA.png, Fireboard decorated with trompe-l'oeil image of a fireplace and mantel, ca.1825 (Historic New England)
Image:Cat and canary fireboard ca1830s CooperHewittMuseum.png, ''Cat and Canary'' fireboard, France, ca.1830-1840 (Cooper Hewitt Museum)
Image:The Great Gale of 1846.jpg, ''Great Gale of 1846'' fireboard (Peabody Essex Museum)
Image:1918 fireboard byGrandmaMoses.png, Fireboard by Grandma Moses
Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), or Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. H ...
, 1918
Image:1936 Banister House Brookfield Massachusetts LC HABS MA345 076888pu detail.jpg, Banister House, Brookfield, Massachusetts, USA (photo 1936) (Library of Congress)
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{wiktionary
* ''Victoria & Albert''
Chimney board by Robert Adam (1728–92). Painted canvas on wood. England, 18th century.
* American Folk Art Museum
Fireboard ca.1830
* Art Institute of Chicago
Fireboard ca.1820
* American Folk Art @ Cooperstown blog
2011
* American Folk Art @ Cooperstown blog
2010
* Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Fireboard
Fireplaces
Decorative arts
Wallcoverings