The Monumental Brass Society was founded in 1887 to preserve and record monumental brasses. Initially it was known as the Cambridge University Association of Brass Collectors. Later it was renamed the Monumental Brass Society. From a membership of 60 in 1887, the Society has grown to around 500 today.Early research into brasses focused chiefly on English brasses of the medieval and early modern periods. Today, however, the field is much wider. Chronologically, it extends to brasses of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and geographically to those of Continental Europe. Incised slabs are also the subject of growing interest. Areas of current research include the artistic context of brasses, workshop organisation, and the self-image of the commemorated.
The society’s main aims are as follows:
- To encourage the appreciation of brasses, indents of lost brasses and incised slabs by publications, lectures and meetings
- To preserve brasses by assisting with grant funding conservation and providing advice on their care
- To promote the study of brasses, indents of lost brasses and incised slabs, and to encourage and disseminate original research
- To record lost and stolen brasses and those remaining in private hands
Membership will benefit those with an interest in local history, genealogy, armour, the study of costume, and heraldry. If students join now, they receive 2013 and 2014 membership. For further information, see the Monumental Brass Society’s website and this membership leaflet.
On Saturday, 22 February 2014, the Monumental Brass Society will hold a study day at Temple Church, London. Proceedings start at 2pm. Entry is free and MBS members may invite non-member visitors to attend. This General Meeting will include the following lectures:
- Reverend Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of the Temple: The Temple Church of London in the Middle Ages
- Philip Lankester, The Medieval Military Effigies and Cross Slabs: some new evidence
- David Harte, The Men of the Inner Temple and their Brasses
Tea will be available at the end of the meeting and admission is free. For further information on the society’s events, see here.
Image: Carshalton, Surrey, Margaret, wife of Nicholas Gaynesford, d. 1503
