Classes of military brasses—Rubbings, and how to make them—Floor brasses: their characteristics—Palimpsest brasses—What may be learnt from brasses—Mural tablets

In many of our churches and public buildings are to be found numerous memorial brasses which possess undoubted interest for the collector of military curios. These memorials of the dead largely fall into two classes: those which are let into floors, and those which are fixed to walls. The former class, as a rule, are of some antiquity, are memorials to individuals rather than to groups of soldiers, and are to be found almost entirely in churches. The latter class are modern, are often erected to a number of soldiers, and are located in such public buildings as town halls and guild halls as well as churches. The floor brasses, as a rule, are flat but often deeply engraved, whilst the mural tablets are lightly engraved and frequently embellished with a sculptured framework.

To obtain facsimiles of memorial brasses, many collectors take "rubbings" of them, much after the fashion that children imitate coins by superimposing a sheet of paper and running a soft pencil over the covered surface.

The necessary outfit for making a rubbing consists, first and foremost, of a permit obtained from the proper authorities, a supply of heel-ball, as sold by any leather dealer or cobbler, a small clothes brush, a duster, and some paper. The latter must not be too flimsy nor too stout, and it must be large enough to cover the brass. A roll of light grey wallpaper usually serves admirably, but there are times when the width of the roll is too narrow for the brass. In these cases, a full-size sheet of paper as used by printers should be procured.

The first operation is to wipe away all dust and foreign matter from the metal surface; this is a very necessary precaution when the tablet is a floor-inset The next thing is to place the sheet of paper in position; if the memorial is fixed to the wall, the sheet must be held by an assistant, or at the expense of much arm-aching by the person who does the rubbing; if the tablet is let into the floor, two weights placed at the head of the brass serve the purpose admirably.

The actual rubbing should be performed by drawing the heel-ball lightly across the brass. The movement should always be made in the same direction, or the lines will appear scratchy and confusing. It is best to complete a little patch first, and not go over the whole area before finishing any part of it; if this be done, there will be more chance of completing the work without shifting the paper. It is not a bad idea to force the paper by means of the palm of the hand into the recesses of the brass before commencing to rub; this will help to keep the sheet from moving.

Some collectors make their rubbings intensely dark, that is, they do not leave off when the brown stage has been reached. Others are content to stop rubbing when the detail is just visible, completing the work at home by filling all the flat areas with a wash of Indian ink. Either plan is good, but the former is more useful in cases where the tracery is involved, whilst the latter provides a somewhat smarter effect when carefully executed.

Rubbings may be stored in cardboard tubes, one in each tube, but many enthusiasts mount their black pictures on canvas and rollers. The latter plan is certainly the better one, but it is an expensive and tedious business which will not appeal to all. Small rubbings, it need hardly be added, make capital pictures for framing, looking very attractive if a white margin is preserved, and the frame made of a narrow black moulding.

Floor brasses were first used on the Continent, many originating in Flanders and some in Brittany. The earliest specimens in England date from the thirteenth century, though Beaumont states that the finest specimens belong to the fourteenth century. He also mentions that the fifteenth-century specimens were small, thin, and more ornate, whilst in the sixteenth century the art became debased by a surfeit of commonplace specimens. The majority of the English brasses are located in the Eastern Counties and the Home Counties, where, in fact, stone was not easily and cheaply obtained.

The most curious of all floor brasses, the same writer states,[19] are those which are called palimpsests. These were originally laid down to the memory of a certain individual, but were subsequently taken up, re-engraved, and then used to commemorate some one else. Nearly all are post-Reformation—a fact which speaks for itself.

After the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbeys fell into decay, and any engraver who wanted a brass appears to have taken it from the nearest ruin and adapted it to his requirements.

Palimpsest brasses were readapted in three ways:—

1. Plates were re-engraved on the reverse side.

2. The old figure was used again without alteration, a new inscription and shield (if any) being added.

3. The original engraving was modified, fresh lines and shading being introduced to adapt it to contemporary fashion.

One of the finest examples of this latter kind of palimpsest brasses is a specimen which was made to honour the memory of Sir Walter and Lady Curson, at Waterperry, Oxon. The original was engraved in 1440, but subsequently altered to suit the style of armour and costume which prevailed in 1527.

Another interesting palimpsest is mentioned by Fairbank.[20] "It occurs in Ticehurst Church, Sussex. It has been made use of to commemorate John Wyborne, Esquire, and his two wives. The second wife, his widow, made her will in 1502, and she ordered a stone to be placed over herself and her husband; and this is what the executors did. They took a small slab bearing a brass figure of a man in armour, which had been engraved about 1365; there was no room for figures of the two wives of the same size as the figure already there, so they had a small figure placed on each side, little larger than half the size of the central one, and replaced the original inscription by one commemorating John Wyborne, who died 1490, and his two wives; their figures were engraved about 1510."

Brasses are of great educational value in so much as many reveal interesting points in connection with matters concerning dress and armour. But the student is warned against putting too much trust in the dates which they bear, for specimens were often laid down before the death of the person whose memory they perpetuate. The date of death and the style of decoration might thus be, in such cases, at variance historically. Beaumont says:[21]—

"Examples of this feature are to be found at Thame, Oxon, and Lambourne, Berks. This is especially noticeable in the case of shroud brasses, which were generally engraved and fixed during the lifetime of the person commemorated, the object being to remind him of his final bourne; in these cases blank spaces were usually left for the insertion of the date of death."