THE EARLY TUDORS. 1485-1547
During this period more brasses were laid down than in the whole of the
preceding time. Over 1100 belong to the reigns of Henrys VII and VIII.
From Edward I to Richard III, 1000 were laid down.
But the work shows lamentable signs of steady deterioration; metal and
engraving are usually poor, the former thin and the latter shallow and
with too much detail. There is a greater variety of design, but many
are in bad taste, such as figures shown in shrouds or as skeletons.
At this date brasses are often placed on the wall, and sometimes are
quadrangular. The latter must be carefully distinguished from foreign
ones (see later).
Canopies are few and heavy, but continue to follow the traditional
lines.
In the military brasses a sudden change becomes noticeable. The
Yorkist armour is changed to the Tudor between 1490 and 1500. Its
characteristics are that the placates are omitted, the pauldrons are
single and have passe-gards to protect the neck, shorter tuilles
are attached to the taces, a skirt of mail has been re-introduced
and reaches well down over the thighs. The graceful, pointed
sollerets--which must have been rather uncomfortable--were replaced by
sabbatons with large rounded or square toes.
The sword is usually hung across the back of the legs. The hair is long
and straight. Most of these and other characteristics will be seen in
the illustration of John Shelley and wife, Clapham, Sussex, 1526. The
Tabard of Arms covers the body armour.
[Illustration: Fig. 18. John Shelley and wife, 1526, Clapham, Sussex]
The Yorkist armour was certainly more beautiful, but one is apt
to get rather an unfair impression from the brasses. There still
survives a considerable amount of actual armour of this period, and
from it we can see that it was often truly magnificent. At times it
was engraved and embossed, and there are several variations not shown
in the brasses, such as the skirt of plate. Those interested in the
subject should study the fine collections at the Tower of London and
elsewhere. It is most fortunate that our national collection of armour
was begun just when the brasses by deterioration began to furnish less
trustworthy evidence. Of the armour previous to the Yorkist period,
practically none survives, hence the importance of the good engraving
of the earlier brasses. (See Appendix.)
Serjeants-at-arms usually carry maces.
One of the most characteristic features of the period is the armorial
tabard. Often, too, the wife has an armorial mantle: as in the brass
of John Shelley and his wife, 1526, Clapham, Sussex, here shown. The
arms are repeated on Shelley’s sleeves and his wife bears her own arms
impaling those of her husband on her mantle. The Holy Trinity is shown
above the figures.
The tabard replaced the heraldic jupon of the Plantagenets during the
Lancastrian period. The earliest is to John Wantele, 1424, Amberley,
Sussex, but the arms are not repeated on the sleeves. There are but
few examples, however, till the Yorkist period, and they only became
plentiful under the Tudors. They died out in the opening years of
Elizabeth, the last being to Sir John Tregonwell, Milton Abbey, Dorset,
1565.
Examples of Tabards of Arms during the Yorkist period are: Sir John Say
and wife, Broxbourne, Herts., 1473, and Philip Mede and two wives, St
Mary, Redcliff.
[Illustration: Fig. 19. Lady Tiptoft (Partly covered), c. 1470,
Enfield, Middlesex]
Lady Tiptoft at Enfield, Middlesex, c. 1470 (here illustrated), is
a very splendid brass, and shows the armorial bearings well. (See
Appendix.)
The colour of the coats-of-arms was probably shown by means of lead for
_argent_, coloured earths for _colour_, and the plain brass for _or_.
At Ardingley, Sussex, are three brasses in all of which the coloured
earth is still in place. Unless this has been replaced later, it is a
striking example, for in most cases all trace of the coloured earths
has vanished. At Broxbourne, real enamel was used (as also at Stoke
d’Abernon, 1279), and in consequence most of the colour is still in
place.
It is held by some that all engraved lines on all brasses were filled
in with black wax or some similar substance, just as in our modern
inscriptions. That this was so in some cases seems certain, and at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in the foreign brass to Henry Oskens (canon)
from Nippes, near Cologne, 1535, much of the wax is still there. It
is, of course, impossible to make a good rubbing of such a brass.
It does not seem likely that most of the brasses were so treated, but
it would take too long to go into all the evidence which leads one to
hold this view, nor is it desirable to use it now.
The ladies’ dress also changes at the same time as their husbands’.
The butterfly head-dress gives way to the kennel head-dress. This has
a stiff point in front and is carried back like the roof of a kennel
(hence the name) and has long side lappets, usually of embroidery. In
some of the earlier examples these are pinned up (Ardingley), but, as a
rule, they fall straight down (Clapham).
The dress is close-fitting and has a square collar and fur cuffs.
Round the waist is a girdle with a chain pendant in front, to which is
attached an ornament of varying shape. Occasionally mantles are worn,
as at Cobham, Kent, but seldom, except when they bear a coat-of-arms.
Quite often babies will be found wrapped in chrysoms with swaddling
bands round them. This robe was placed on the child by the priest as
soon as it was baptised (which was when it was only a few days old). It
was worn till the mother came to be churched, when it was returned to
the priest. These brasses therefore show that the child died during the
time that elapsed between baptism and the churching. Chrysom children
are found alone or with parents. This type of brass survived till the
middle of the seventeenth century.
Occasionally brasses are found commemorating women who died in
childbirth. The infant is then usually shown in a chrysom robe, and in
later brasses the mother is often shown lying on a four-post bedstead.
Anne Asteley, Blickling, Norfolk, 1512, probably belongs to this group.
During the reign of Elizabeth, several examples of bedstead brasses are
found. The first is at Heston, Middlesex, 1581, another is at Halling,
Kent, 1587, and there are several others.
The civilians at this period are numerous, but not particularly
interesting. The hair is long and straight, the gown reaches to the
feet and is usually lined and edged with fur. The sleeves are wide,
and a girdle surrounds the waist, from which hangs a short rosary and
a purse. Broad-toed shoes are worn. The brass at Ardingley shows this
dress, the canopy is an unusual feature.
[Illustration: Fig. 20. Richard Wakehurst and wife, engr. c. 1500,
Ardingley, Sussex]