Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/221

Rh importance of sepulchral brasses, viewed in connexion with the history of engraving, was duly appreciated by one to whose careful researches upon that subject we are indebted for so much valuable information, the late keeper of the prints at the British Museum, Mr. Ottley; his constant attention was given during the latter part of his life to the collection formed by Craven Ord, in which he appeared to find a new and inexhaustible source of information. It is much to be regretted that the fruits of this assiduous toil, during many months devoted to the investigation of this hitherto untouched chapter of the art of engraving, should by his untimely death have been lost to the public.

Besides the collection of impressions. Craven Ord was possessed of several original sepulchral brasses, which were sold at his death, in 1830, and purchased by Mr. Nichols, with one remarkable exception, the cross-legged figure of a knight, of the size of life, identified as the memorial of a member of the Bacon family, of Suffolk. By the care of the lamented and talented historian of Suffolk, the late John Gage Rokewode, Esq., and Dawson Turner, Esq., this curious effigy was ultimately restored to its proper position in Gorleston church, near Yarmouth, where the slab still remained, marked with the cavity on the surface to which the plate had originally been affixed. This laudable act of restoration deserves to be recorded, and specially commended as an example to those persons who may accidentally become possessed of similar memorials. It is lamentable to observe the sacrilegious spoliation which in the course of a few years leaves, as in the case of the fine brass of Sir Hugh Hastings, at Elsing, some disunited fragments only, to shew how fair the work had once been in its perfection.

Subsequently to the labours of Craven Ord, the attention of antiquaries was drawn to the sepulchral brasses of the eastern counties, by a work specially devoted to the subject, and illustrated with numerous etchings by Cotman. These volumes, originally produced at a costly price, and comprising representations of the most remarkable brasses which exist in Norfolk and Suffolk, have recently been republished in a more complete form, and at a price which renders them generally attainable. The series which is now in course of publication by Messrs. John and Lionel Waller, consists of examples selected with much judgment from all parts of England;