Continental Brasses

Picture Library - Continental Brasses

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Continental Brasses

Brasses were made in Europe long before they appeared in England, perhaps the earliest being the copper coffin plate of St. Ulrich at Augsburg made in 1187. Amongst the largest and finest brasses surviving are the 14th century products of the Flemish Tournai workshops, exported throughout Europe. They were engraved on quadrangular plates and the boldly drawn figures stand out against backgrounds full of intricate detail, as on the Zatrylla brass in the Louvre. Other centres produced 'cut-out' figure brasses like those popular in England, for example in Poland at Wroklaw; though later Polish products were often quadrangular plates, as at Tomice. Paris was undoubtedly an important centre of production of high-quality brasses; though most in France were destroyed during the Revolution, surviving examples include Elizabeth de Northwood's brass, one of a pair at Minster-in-Sheppey, Kent and the Moüten brass in the Louvre. Other continental products exported to Britain include the Liddell brass at Aberdeen, made by Gaspard Bruydegoms of Antwerp. Fine German-made brasses include those at Paderborn, Bremen and Lübeck, the latter two being full of intricate detail.

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