Monumental brass in the form of a woman, her hands raised in prayer. England, 1521.

Monumental brass in the form of a woman, her hands clasped in prayer.

Given by Arthur G. Binns.

According to notes by Mr William Stephenson made in December 1923 and preserved in the Museum register, the brass was originally set in the floor of the nave of Dunstable Priory Church, Bedfordshire. It was part of a group of brasses commemorating Nicholas Purvey, his two wives and their 5 children (3 sons and two daughters). The inscription beneath these brasses read 'Pray for the soules of Nicolas Purvey Elizabeth and Alys his wyves which Nicolas decessid the secunde day of january A[nn]o M[illesim]o V c[entimo] xxi.'. Stephenson records that only the brasses of the two sons and the plaque bearing the inscription were still in situ in 1911; none of the Purvey family brasses are listed in the 1972 Descriptive guide to British Monumental Brasses.
The woman on the Museum brass is traditionally identified as Alys, but her effigy is generic and the original inscription names but does not distinguish between the two women.
The brass was presented to the Museum in 1922, together with five others (four of these also from Dunstable Priory Church) by Arthur G. Binns, whose address is recorded as 'c/o Smedley's Hydro, Matlock, Derbyshire' -- then an important centre for hydropathic treatments.

M.128-1922