This is a sketch model for a section of a firedog designed by Stevens for Messrs Henry E. Hoole & Co. Ltd. Firedogs or andirons were placed within the fireplace and would have been used to hold utensials which were required for tending the fire. They stand either side of the fireplace and hold burning logs above the floor in order to allow an updraft of air.
Between 1850 and 1857 Stevens was involved in the design and modelling of grates and fenders for fireplaces for Messrs Hoole and Co. at their Green Lane Works in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

A sculptor, designer and painter, Alfred Stevens (1817/18-1875) rejected contemporary distinctions between fine art and design. From 1850 to 1857 he was chief designer to Hoole & Co., Sheffield, where he produced award-winning designs for metalwork, majolica, terracotta ornaments and chimney-pieces. Perhaps his two greatest works were the decorations for the dining-room at Dorchester House, London (about 1856), for which he made countless drawings inspired by the Italian High Renaissance style, in particular the work of Michelangelo and the monument to the Duke of Wellington for St Paul's Cathedral, London, which was completed after his death. The two allegorical groups from this monument made a lasting impact on the New Sculpture movement. The influence of the Italian Renaissance is evident in much of Steven's work, and is perhaps best reflected in the Wellington monument.