C. R. Ashbee Arts & Crafts Falkirk Cast Iron Fireplace Insert Fire Grate.

Rare cast iron Arts & Crafts fireplace insert or grate designed by Charles Robert Ashbees and cast at the Falkirk Iron Co. In 1897 Ashbee produced six fireplace designs for the Falkirk Iron Company which were featured in his article "An experiment in cast iron work" The Studio vol 14 (1898) pp.253-256 which includes an illustration of this fireplace. Ashbee had the wooden moulds for the fireplaces made by craftsmen at his Guild of Handicrafts. This is the only known documented example of this fireplace as very few survived. There is an example of one of the six designs in the collection of The Wolfsonian MiamiBeach Florida. ref. Sotheby's Paul Reeves The Best of British PR98 p.118