Old Brasses and Their Story page 2

In addition to the usual figure brasses a number of interesting variations occur. Thus, sometimes figures appear on a kind of bracket, as in the case of John Strete, 1405, Upper Hardres, Kent, who kneels in academical robes at the foot of a bracket whereon stand figures of S. Peter and S. Paul. Sometimes the deceased appears inside a floriated cross, as in the case of the brass of J. Harold, c. 1390, to be seen at Hereford Cathedral.

Other interesting variations are chalice brasses and heart brasses, and, finally, we get a group of rather morbid brasses wherein the deceased is represented as a skeleton, sometimes covered by a shroud, and a peculiar type known as chrism brasses, which represent a child who died as an infant. These are usually shown in their swaddling clothes. These quaint and curious brasses were later replaced by a representation of the child in its cradle. Here we conclude our brief summary of the chief types of old English brasses.

Those anxious to study brasses will find that the best way is to obtain permission from the rector to take a rubbing of them. The brass should first be dusted, a sheet of ceiling paper laid over it and the impression taken by rubbing over it with a lump of heel ball, the black wax used by boot makers to give a finish to boots. The flat surfaces will then appear black and the engraved lines in white. Before being removed from the brass the impression should be polished with a clean duster.