Style Louis XIII / Ref.9159
Very rare antique fireback from 1545.
Dimensions:
Width: 30'' ¾ 78cm
Height: 29'' ½ 75cm
Origin:
Dated 1545, from the East of France, from an old private collection.
Status:
Very good condtion considering the age. one old chip in the bottom left side.
Samson is said to have lived during the period when the Israelites were oppressed by the power of the Philistines. At this time an angel from God appears to Manoah, an Israelite and to his wife, who is sterile. This angel predicts that they will have a son who will deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. In accordance with Nazaritic requirements her promised child is not to shave or cut his hair.
As a young man, Samson leaves the hills of his people to see the cities of the Philistines. He becomes so infatuated with a Philistine woman from Timnah that, overcoming the objections of his parents, he decides to marry her. On the way to ask for her hand in marriage, Samson is attacked by a lion and kills it with his bare hands. He wins her hand in marriage.
On his way to the wedding, Samson notices that bees have nested in the carcass of the lion and have made honey.
The wedding-feast is a customary seven-day banquet. Samson tells a riddle to his thirty groomsmen, if they can solve it, he will give them thirty sets of clothes. The riddle is a veiled account of his encounter with the lion. The Philistines cannot solve it and convince Samson's new wife to discover the answer. At the imploring of his bride, Samson tells her the solution, and she tells it to the thirty groomsmen. Samson is enraged and cannot provide the men with thirty sets of clothing. He leaves the town and kills thirty Ashkelonites for their clothes, which he gives his thirty groomsmen.
When Samson returns to Timnah, he finds his father-in-law has given his wife to another man. In a rage, Samson burns the fields and vinyards of the Philistines. The Philistines then burn the house of Samson's wife along with her and her father.
Samson swore his revenge and took refuge in the rock of Etam. An army of Philistines went up and demanded from the 3,000 men of Judah to deliver them Samson. With Samson's consent, they tie him with new ropes and are about to hand him over to the Philistines when he breaks free and slays one thousand Philistines.
About the reference on this fireback, see the book " Plaques de cheminées" by Henri Carpentier, Editions De Nobelle 1967 that you can visualize here See also this
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