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Fireback
Fireback
Fireback

Fireback

Maker
Periodca. 1780 - 1800
MediumCast iron
Dimensions19.75 × 35.75 × 1.3 in. (50.2 × 90.8 × 3.3 cm)
SignedInscribed "Atsion Furnace" in the casting.
ClassificationsFireplace T&E
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1933
Object number397
DescriptionAn arch-topped rectangular fireback with molded front edges across the top and on the sides. The name "Atsion Furnace" is inscribed in a curved banner in the arch, flanked by foliate scrolls. A basket of flowers appears in the center under the banner, again with foliate scrolls emanating horizontally from its base.
Curatorial RemarksA forge was first built at Atsion in Burlington County in 1767/68 by John Estelle, with a half interest owned by Charles Read, an industrialist with a number of investments in the South Jersey iron industry. The first products at Atsion consisted of bar iron, made out of pigs sourced from nearby Batsto. By the early 1770s the forge was capable of producing cast sheet iron as a stove made of it was obtained in 1773 by the Friends Meetinghouse in Crosswicks. When the capacity of the salt works at Toms River was increased during the American Revolution, Atsion received the contract for furnishing additional evaporation pans for which they were paid more than 1,045 Pounds in 1777. The works seemed to enjoy a period of prosperity between 1795 and 1823. In the latter year it included a blast furnace, an air furnace, and a forge with four fires and two hammers. There were, besides these, a sawmill and two gristmills. Connected with the works were 20,000 acres of land. The whole estate was then purchased by Samuel Richards. Atsion remained in operation until about 1848, when, along with other area bog iron furnaces and forges, they were compelled to quit owing to competition from the anthracite furnaces of Pennsylvania and those using North Jersey magnetic ores. Dating the fireback is somewhat difficult. A similar basket containing fruit appears on a Franklin stove with the Atsion Furnace name also in a banner surrounded by foliate scrolls. Two other stoves still remaining at the Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Bridgeton were made after 1805. They bear the inscription "Jacob Downing - Atsion Furnace," and their decorations are more neoclassical in style than the fireback. Downing had purchased an interest in Atsion at auction in 1805. He continued as part owner until his death in 1823. So the period 1780 to 1800 for the manufacture of the fireback seems plausible.NotesAssociation accession records indicate that the fireback came "From Crawford House, Holmdel." The Crawford family was a large one, owning a number of farms in the Holmdel and Middletown area. Without more information, it is impossible to determine the specific house from which the fireback was removed.
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