sized brass of Sir John d'Aubernon at Stoke d'Abernon
in Surrey (c. 1277) has the decorations of the shield filled in with a
species of enamel. Other examples of this occur, and the probability is,
that, in most cases, the lines of the engraving were filled with
colouring-matter, though brass would scarcely bear the heat requisite to
fuse the ordinary enamels. A well-known 13th-century example is that of
Sir Roger de Trumpington (c. 1290), who accompanied Prince Edward in his
expedition to Palestine and is represented cross-legged. About half a
dozen instances of this peculiarity are known. The 14th-century brasses
are much more numerous, and present a remarkable variety in their
details. The finest specimen is that of Nicholas Lord Burnell (1315) in
the church of Acton Burnell, Shropshire. In the 15th century the design
and execution of monumental brasses had attained their highest
excellence. The beautiful brass of Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick (d.
1401), and his wife Margaret, which formerly covered the tomb in St
Mary's church, Warwick, is a striking example. One of the best specimens
of plate armour is that of Sir Robert Stantoun (1458) in Castle
Donnington church, Leicestershire, and one of the finest existing
brasses of ecclesiastics is that of Abbot de la Mare of St Albans. It is
only in the 16th century that the engraved representations become
portraits. Previous to that period the features were invariably
represented conventionally, though sometimes personal peculiarities were
given. A large number of brasses in England are _palimpsests_, the back
of an ancient brass having been engraved for the more recent memorial.
Thus a brass commemorative of Margaret Bulstrode (1540) at Hedgerley, on
being removed from its position, was discovered to have been previously
the memorial of Thomas Totyngton, abbot of St Edmunds, Bury (1312). The
abbey was only surrendered to Henry VIII. in 1539, so that before the
year was out the work of spoliation had begun, and the abbot's brass had
been removed and re-engraved to Margaret Bulstrode. In explanation of
the frequency with which ancient brasses have thus been stolen and
re-erected after being engraved on the reverse, as at Berkhampstead, it
may be remarked that all the sheet brass used in England previous to the
establishment of a manufactory at Esher by a German in 1649, had to be
imported from the continent.

[Illustration: PLATE I.

Fig. 1.--Sir John D'Abernon, 1277