The appurtenances for the fireplace in this list comprise the fender, shovel, tongs, broom, bellows, and the "dogs." Illustration 315 shows a pair of brass andirons and Illustration 316, a set of "brass-headed iron dogs," such as Sewall ordered. Both pairs belong to Dwight M. Prouty, Esq. of Boston.

Illus. 315. - Brass Andirons, 1700-1800.

By 1650 the use of coal had become common in England from the scarcity and expense of wood as a fuel, and from that time fireplaces in that country were constructed for coal fires. The books of designs of the eighteenth century show many and elaborate drawings of grates for coal. In this country, however, the lack of wood has never been felt, and the fireplace to burn wood has held its own, with its andirons, not so generous as in the early days, but still of goodly size.

Illus. 316. - Brass-headed Iron Dogs, 1700-1800.

Firebacks were made of iron for fireplaces, sometimes cast with the coat-of-arms of the owner or the date of construction. In Pennsylvania were famous iron workers, and there is a collection of iron firebacks in the museum at Memorial Hall, Philadelphia. At Mount Vernon is a fireback with the Fairfax coat-of-arms which Washington took from Belvoir, the estate of Lord Fairfax, adjoining Mount Vernon.

Illustration 317 shows a chimney piece in the west parlor at Mount Vernon. Washington's coat-of-arms is carved at the top, and his crest and initials are cast in the fireback. In the panel over the mantel is a painting which was sent to Lawrence Washington in 1743, by Admiral Vernon, in acknowledgment of the courtesy shown by Lawrence Washington to his old commander, in naming the estate Mount Vernon. The painting represents Admiral Vernon's fleet at Cartagena.

About 1750 the hob-grate was invented. Illustration 318 shows a mantel and fireplace with a hob-grate in the house of Charles R. Waters, Esq., of Salem. The fireplace was filled in with brick or stone at each side, and the grate set between. The bars, of course, are of iron for holding coal, and the sides of the grate are of brass. These were at first called "cat-stones" to distinguish them from "fire-dogs," but later they were named "hob-grates."

Illus. 317. - Mantel at Mount Vernon, 1760-1770.

Illus. 318. - Mantel with Hob-grate, 1776.

Below the grate is a small brass fender to prevent the ashes from scattering, and around the fireplace is a fender of iron wire with brass rails and feet.

The hob-grate was more in use in the South than in the North.

In 1745, after many experiments, and goaded to it by the smoking chimneys and wasted heat of the fireplace, Franklin invented the stove in use ever since, called the Franklin stove or grate. Illustration 319 shows a Franklin stove in the Warner house at Portsmouth. The fireplace, faced with tiles, was originally built to burn wood, but when the new-fashioned Franklin stove became popular, one was bought and set into the fireplace, the front of the stove projecting into the room. The stove is made of iron, with the three rosettes, the open-work rail at the top, the large knobs in front and the small knobs at the back, of brass, which every good housekeeper kept as brightly polished as the brass andirons and the handles of the shovel and tongs. At each side of the fireplace are the original brass rests for the shovel and tongs.

Later in the century the fireplace was filled in with a board or bricks, and what was called a fire-frame was used. It was similar to the upper part of a Franklin stove; the back and sides of iron, somewhat larger than those of the Franklin stove, resting directly upon the stone hearth, giving the effect of an iron fireplace in front of the old one. Oftentimes in an old house may be found a large fireplace filled in, with the iron fire-frame in front of it, that in its turn superseded by a stove placed with its pipe passing through the fire-frame. Illustration 320 shows a fire-frame in the Wayside Inn at Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Illus. 319. - Franklin Stove, 1745-1760.

Candles and whale oil, with pine-wood knots, provided the light for the Pilgrim fathers, aside from that thrown out by the great wood fire. Candlesticks formed a necessary part of the furnishings of a house. They were made of brass, iron, tin, pewter, and silver, but candlesticks of brass were the ones in most general use.

Illus. 320. - Iron Fire-frame, 1775-1800.

The earliest form of lamp in use in the colonies was what is known as a "betty lamp," and it must have been a most untidy little utensil, giving but a meagre light. Illustration 321 shows several betty lamps owned by the writer. The smallest is of iron, two and a half inches in diameter, with a nose projecting one inch and a quarter beyond the receptacle for grease or fat. A chain and hook are attached to the handle, by which the lamp was hung upon a chair-back or a nail. The wick, made of a twisted cotton rag, was placed with its end protruding from the nose of the lamp, and provided a dull, poor flame. Another lamp has the chain and the receptacle for grease made of brass, while the handle, the hook by which it was to hang, and the pin for cleaning the lamp, attached to the chain, are of steel. The bottom of the brass receptacle is of copper. There is a cover to the front part of this lamp, so that the interior can be cleaned, and the piece of steel forming the handle runs through the interior of the lamp, the end providing a nose for the wick just inside of the brass one, thus allowing the drippings from the wick to drain back into the receptacle. The lamp with a standard has an iron rod, upon which the lamp can slide up and down, with a ring at the top of the rod to lift it by. The fourth betty lamp is hung upon an old wooden ratchet intended for that purpose. The ratchet is made of two strips of wood, one cut with saw-teeth edge, which can be raised and lowered to place the lamp at the desired height. Betty lamps were in use during the seventeenth century, and much later than that in the South.

Illus. 321 - Betty Lamps, Seventeenth Century.