MEMORIAL BRASSES OF MILITARY INTEREST
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.
[19] Beaumont, in "Memorial Brasses," p. 140.
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."
[20] F. R. Fairbank, in _The Connoisseur_.
[Illustration: THE OLDEST ENGLISH BRASS.
To the memory of Sir John D'Abernon. Date 1277. At Guildford, Surrey.]
* * * * *
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."
[21] "Memorial Brasses," p. 5.
[Illustration: A BATTLEFIELD SOUVENIR PICKED UP ON THE PLAINS OF
FLANDERS.
(The same helmet is shown with and without the cloth covering.)]
The earliest English brasses were shaped around the figures they
portrayed, and if canopies or frames were added, these were fitted in
separate pieces. All foreign brasses and later English ones, however,
were cut into rectangular pieces. These and other such indications are
the surest guides to the true date of construction.
Among the thousands of brasses in this country, many of which are of
military interest, the following are worthy of mention:--
1. At Felbrigge, to the memory of Sir Symon Ffelbrygge; date, 1416. He
is dressed in plate armour, and holds the Royal Standard. His garter
is prominently shown. A canopy surmounts his figure.
2. At Trumpington. This is a favourite specimen with Cambridge
undergraduates.
3. At Trotton, Sussex, to the memory of Thomas Camoys and Elizabeth,
his consort; date, 1419. Camoys achieved fame at Agincourt; his wife
was a Mortimer. A canopy surmounts each figure.
4. At West Hanney, to the memory of Humfrie Cheynie; date, 1557. This
brass is peculiar; the figure, which is small, stands on a metal
rectangle bearing a scriptural text. A rectangular metal frame is
placed around the figure, but at some distance.
5. At Ilminster, to the memory of Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham; date,
1609. Nicholas is given a ringed cuirass and lamboys over his mail
skirt. He stands upon a tablet bearing an inscription which explains
that he was the founder of Wadham College, Oxford.
Of later mural tablets we need say but little, for there is hardly
a cathedral or parish church in the kingdom which is not the proud
possessor of one or more specimens. As a rule, these memorials point
to the valorous deeds which soldiers of the neighbourhood have
performed for their King and country. The South African War, it will be
remembered, added considerably to their number, whilst the conflict now
raging has already made its contributions.