An early George III ‘Gothick’ iron and polished steel fire grate, circa 1760

This fire grate matches a design in the third edition of Thomas Chippendale's Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker's Director; it is on pl.CXC and is the most overtly 'Gothick' of his eight designs for 'Stove Grates'. The 'Gothick' style was the eighteenth-century interpretation of the ornamental motifs found in Gothic architecture, often with a liberty that was very different in character to the more earnest, widespread Gothic Revival of the nineteenth century. It is sometimes dubbed 'Strawberry Hill Gothic' after is most famous practitioner, Sir Horace Walpole at his Twickenham residence of the same name.