A LARGE PAIR OF WROUGHT IRON AND BRASS ANDIRONS POSSIBLY DESIGNED BY J.H. POLLEN AND JOSHUA HART & SON, CIRCA 1860In Elizabethan style, the brass finials in the form of seed heads, applied flowerhead and crown motifs 71cm high, 30cm wide, 56cm deepTOGETHER WITH A SET OF THREE GEORGE III POLISHED STEEL FIRE TOOLS CIRCA 1780 Pommel handles with petal ends the shovel 73.5cm longProvenance: Probably William Schomberg Kerr, 8th Marquess of Lothian (1832-1870)The attribution to Pollen and Hart is based on a similar pair of firedogs (or andirons) at Blickling Hall, Norfolk. The Blickling Hall examples are noted to have been made by Hart & Sons between 1858 and 1863, they formed part of the redesign of the Long Gallery by William Schomberg Robert, 8th Marquess of Lothian (1832-1870). Similar projects being undertaken at Blickling were mirrored by the refurbishment of Newbattle in the 1850's and 1870's. The 8th Marquess was connected to the leading lights of the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts movement through his connection with Pollen and his friendship with William Morris. Existing historic aspects of each house at Blickling and Newbattle were successfully married with new bold and sympathetic design schemes. The present andirons appear in several contemporary photographs of the chimneypiece in the Crypt at Newbattle Abbey.