Antique Hob Grates
A hob grate is a fireplace grate built as one unit, with the fire basket flanked by two flat-topped platforms where a kettle or pan could stand.
Antique Hob Grates
Hob grates came in as coal replaced wood on the domestic hearth. The fire was lifted into a basket and the opening reduced, and the flat hobs to either side gave a heated standing surface for a kettle or a pan. They were a standard fireplace fitting of the Georgian and Regency years.
What reaches the market is iron. Two of the four listings on Sellingantiques name cast iron, two name cast and wrought iron combined, and one names no metal at all. These are period fittings rather than reproductions, and each has been dated by its dealer within the Georgian to early nineteenth-century span.
The dating sits in a narrow band: Georgian twice, Early 19th Century once, 19th Century once, with nothing earlier and nothing Victorian. Two dealers narrowed further in the title itself, one to Regency and one to Geo III, so the run reads as later Georgian through Regency.
Numbers are small. Three dealers have ever listed one, and archive plus current stock together come to four pieces, which works out at one or two reaching the market in a year. One of those four was offered complete with its surround; the rest were bare grates. No title records a width, a height or a weight.
Where The Range Splits
Metal does most of the sorting. The two grates described as cast and wrought iron together sit at the top of the range, both called superior by their dealers. Plain cast iron, and the one title that names no metal, sit at the bottom. The span between the two ends is close to a hundredfold.
Design language tracks the same split. Classical design is the only ornamental description anywhere in the four listings, and it belongs to the top end. The cheapest title carries no descriptive term at all beyond the form and the period, which tells you how bare the lower end can be.
Dating and completeness push in the same direction. The two titles that name a reign, Regency and Geo III, are the highest-priced, while plain Georgian appears at the bottom. The one grate offered with its surround stands well clear of the bare Georgian example, though below the cast-and-wrought pair.
Antique Hob Grates Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for hob grates, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Hob grates have been listed on Sellingantiques since 2013, and just three dealers have ever offered one.
The Antique Hob Grates Glossary
- Hob
- The flat-topped platform to either side of the fire basket, used to stand a kettle or pan on.
- Hob grate
- A fireplace grate made as one unit, with hobs flanking the burning area.
- Fire grate
- The basket that holds the fuel. Two of the four listings use this term in place of hob grate.
- Cast iron
- Iron poured into a mould, which takes crisp repeated ornament. Named in the two lower-priced titles.
- Wrought iron
- Iron worked hot at the forge, used for bars and frames. Both top-of-range grates combine it with castings.
- Surround
- The framing element around the fireplace opening. Offered with one of the four grates.
Antique Hob Grates: Frequently Asked Questions
What period do hob grates date from?
Every example on Sellingantiques falls in the Georgian to early nineteenth-century band. Two are dated Georgian, one Early 19th Century, one simply 19th Century.
Nothing earlier has appeared, and nothing Victorian or later. Two dealers narrowed the date in the title, one to Regency and one to Geo III.
Why were the hobs there?
They gave a heated flat surface beside the fire. A kettle or a pan could stand on a hob and keep hot without sitting in the coals.
The form belongs to the change from wood to coal, when the fire was raised into a basket and the opening narrowed.
Are hob grates cast or wrought iron?
Both turn up. Two of the four listings describe cast and wrought iron used together, one names cast iron alone, and one names no metal.
The combination sits at the top of the range. Cast iron takes crisp repeated ornament from the mould, while wrought iron was worked at the forge for bars and frames.
How often do hob grates come up for sale?
Rarely. Three dealers have listed one on Sellingantiques, and the archive plus current stock together amount to four pieces.
That works out at roughly one or two reaching the market in a year.
Do hob grates come with a surround?
One of the four did, described in the title as a Georgian cast iron hob grate with surround.
The other three were offered as grates on their own. The one with its surround was priced well clear of the bare Georgian example.
What decoration is found on hob grates?
Classical design is the only ornamental description in the four listings, and it belongs to one of the two highest-priced grates.
No other pattern, motif or style is named anywhere. The lowest-priced title carries no design language at all.