Not currently on display at the V&A

Alice de Bures, widow of Sir Guy Bryan, in widows' dress

Brass Rubbing
1435 (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
TitleAlice de Bures, widow of Sir Guy Bryan, in widows' dress (generic title)
Materials and techniques
wax rubbing of monumental brass on paper
Brief description
Rubbing of the effigy of Alice de Bures, widow of Sir Guy Bryan, 1435, Acton Church, Suffolk
Physical description
Rubbing of the brass effigy of Alice de Bures, widow of Sir Guy Bryan. Alice is depicted in widows' dress, wearing a cape and a head-dress, with her hands held to her chest in prayer, positioned under a three-arched canopy with two shields.
Dimensions
  • Height: 2044.7mm
  • Width: 762mm
V&A Print Room's Print Catalogue: BRASS RUBBINGS CATALOGUE 1277-1434, 1991
Credit line
Given by Mr O.E.B. Hughes
Object history
Rubbing taken at Acton Church, Suffolk and given by Mr. O. E. B. Hughes.
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
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design & Department of Paintings, Accessions 1947, London: HMSO, 1950.
  • Mill Stephenson, A List of Monumental Brasses in the British Isles, London, 1926, and Supplement, 1956.
  • V&A Print Room's Print Catalogue: BRASS RUBBINGS CATALOGUE 1435-1500, 1991
Collection
Accession number
E.10-1947

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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