The Brass Lease
- Date of Brass:
- 1568
- Place:
- Coventry, St Mary's Hall
- County:
- Warwickshire
- Country:
- Number:
- Style:
- London
Description
January 2011
In addition to the thousands of monumental brasses in England and Wales that have survived the ravages of time, there are a small number of old non-
The brass lease records that John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, leased the manor of Cheylesmore to the mayor, bailiffs and commonalty of Coventry for eighty-
The brass is in St Mary's Hall, a six hundred year old guildhall in Coventry, where it is set in a painted frame and secured to a wall. It is made of four pieces of brass joined together. In June 1963, it was taken down and the reverse examined. It carried no engraving despite the suspicious looking joins at either side. The brass, which has every appearance of having been engraved in London, has the date 1568 prominently engraved on a scroll below the central shield with the royal arms of France Modern and England quarterly under the royal crown. However the stone screen on which the brass was set was not erected in St Mary's Hall until 1571. To the left of the royal arms are the arms of Robert, Earl of Leicester, and to the right, the arms of Coventry. Although the royal arms and those of Coventry lack the heraldic colours that they must once have had, those of Robert Dudley retain the lead that represent argent and the Dudley badges of a ragged staff that pepper the margins of the brass are also of lead. Outside the inscription and the badges are Roman Doric columns that support further columns with decoration that would look more in place on monuments of 1530s and 1540s but with Ionic capitals. Those capitals support a triple canopy of rounded arches decorated with repetitive floral pattern also used on the bottom margin of the brass. Around the inscriptions are a twisted rope borders often used on brasses at this date. The castellated pattern along the top of the brass can also be found on other brasses.
Copyright: Jon Bayliss
In addition to the thousands of monumental brasses in England and Wales that have survived the ravages of time, there are a small number of old non-
The brass lease records that John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, leased the manor of Cheylesmore to the mayor, bailiffs and commonalty of Coventry for eighty-
The brass lease (photo: David Griffith)
The brass is in St Mary's Hall, a six hundred year old guildhall in Coventry, where it is set in a painted frame and secured to a wall. It is made of four pieces of brass joined together. In June 1963, it was taken down and the reverse examined. It carried no engraving despite the suspicious looking joins at either side. The brass, which has every appearance of having been engraved in London, has the date 1568 prominently engraved on a scroll below the central shield with the royal arms of France Modern and England quarterly under the royal crown. However the stone screen on which the brass was set was not erected in St Mary's Hall until 1571. To the left of the royal arms are the arms of Robert, Earl of Leicester, and to the right, the arms of Coventry. Although the royal arms and those of Coventry lack the heraldic colours that they must once have had, those of Robert Dudley retain the lead that represent argent and the Dudley badges of a ragged staff that pepper the margins of the brass are also of lead. Outside the inscription and the badges are Roman Doric columns that support further columns with decoration that would look more in place on monuments of 1530s and 1540s but with Ionic capitals. Those capitals support a triple canopy of rounded arches decorated with repetitive floral pattern also used on the bottom margin of the brass. Around the inscriptions are a twisted rope borders often used on brasses at this date. The castellated pattern along the top of the brass can also be found on other brasses.
Copyricight: Jon Bayliss
Thanks to David Griffith for the suggestion of this subject and the photographs
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