Cast Iron Fireback From Orval Abbey (belgium) Dated 1725. Perfect Condition.

Cast iron fireback from Orval Abbey (Belgium) dated 1725. (0.71m x 0.71m x 0.04m)

Topped with the mitre and the crosier, a cartouche surrounded by palms is furnished with a fish in the wave and a ring with a bezel.
In perfect condition, without cracks or restoration.
Around 1076 the suzerain of the Count of Chiny, Mathilde of Tuscany, Countess of Briey, passed through the region and ratified the donation made by her vassal to the Benedictine monks.
It was at this time that a story or legend was born at the origin of the coat of arms of the abbey, which became the symbol of Orval beer: a trout emerging from the water with a ring decorated with a bezel.
Mathilde dipping her hand into a gushing spring, her wedding ring slipped from her finger. A trout appeared on the surface of the water and returned the ring to the countess. She cried out: "Here is the golden ring I was looking for! Happy valley that has returned it to me! From now on and forever, I would like it to be called Val d'or".
The place is said to have received its name from her Auréavallis (Val d'or) and its coat of arms (a golden ring decorated with a bezel, worn by a trout emerging from the water).
Currently in the oldest part of the abbey, the basin of the "Fontaine Mathilde" still perpetuates her memory.