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Brass Rubbing

1468 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Monumental brasses are commemorative plaques that served as effigies and were most commonly found in churches. The earliest examples come from the thirteenth century but they were popular up until the seventeenth century and then again in the Victorian Gothic Revival. Surviving brasses from the medieval period are limited due to the turbulent history of the Church but they do survive in considerable numbers in the East of England, Germany and Flanders. Made from an alloy of copper and zinc, a material known as latten, they were laid into church floors and walls. Monumental brasses are historically and stylistically significant because they record dress, architecture, armoury, heraldry (coats of arms and insignia) and palaeography (handwriting) in a dated object. In addition they tell the story of memorial and patronage.

The practice of recording brasses through a process of rubbing originates from the Victorian Gothic Revival. An early method of pouring printer’s ink into engraved lines and then placing damp tissue paper over the brass was replaced around the mid-nineteenth century with the more effective technique of using black shoemaker’s wax, known as heel ball. Brass rubbing continued to be a popular hobby into the twentieth century before the process was understood to cause damage to the brasses.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Wax rubbing of monumental brass on paper
Brief description
Rubbing of an effigy with a scroll and inscription from the brass of Thomas Hylle, S.T.P., fellow, dated 1468, in New College Chapel, Oxford
Physical description
Rubbing of the effigy of Thomas Hylle, S.T.P., fellow, depicted in a cap and academic dress, holding a cross with the Five Wounds of Christ. Accompanying the effigy are a scroll and an inscription with 2 verses in Latin.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1038.225mm
  • Width: 625.475mm
Dimensions taken from the Print Room's Print Catalogue and converted from inches.
Object history
Rubbing taken at New College Chapel, Oxford.
Subjects depicted
Association
Summary
Monumental brasses are commemorative plaques that served as effigies and were most commonly found in churches. The earliest examples come from the thirteenth century but they were popular up until the seventeenth century and then again in the Victorian Gothic Revival. Surviving brasses from the medieval period are limited due to the turbulent history of the Church but they do survive in considerable numbers in the East of England, Germany and Flanders. Made from an alloy of copper and zinc, a material known as latten, they were laid into church floors and walls. Monumental brasses are historically and stylistically significant because they record dress, architecture, armoury, heraldry (coats of arms and insignia) and palaeography (handwriting) in a dated object. In addition they tell the story of memorial and patronage.

The practice of recording brasses through a process of rubbing originates from the Victorian Gothic Revival. An early method of pouring printer’s ink into engraved lines and then placing damp tissue paper over the brass was replaced around the mid-nineteenth century with the more effective technique of using black shoemaker’s wax, known as heel ball. Brass rubbing continued to be a popular hobby into the twentieth century before the process was understood to cause damage to the brasses.
Bibliographic references
  • V&A Print Room's Print Catalogue: BRASS RUBBINGS CATALOGUE 1435-1500, London, 1991.
  • Stephenson, Mill. A List of Monumental Brasses in the British Isles. London: Headley Brothers, 1926, and supplement, 1956.
Collection
Accession number
E.3131-1931

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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