We owe the application of brass to memorial tablets to the artists of Flanders, and the date of their introduction is about the middle of the thirteenth century. The execution of almost all of our English brasses is due to native artists. Foreign brasses are usually of great size, and consist of a quadrangular sheet of metal, on which is engraved the figure, usually under a canopy, the background being ornamented with rich diaper, foliage, or scrollwork, and the incisions filled with colouring. Several brasses in England conform to this style of workmanship, and are evidently the production of foreign artists. The English brasses, on the contrary, consist of separate pieces, with an irregular outline, corresponding with that of the figure. They have no brass background; and for delicacy of engraving and general appearance the English brasses are by far the best. The names of the makers of brasses have been almost entirely lost. Two only bear marks which are supposed to be those of the engraver. No other country can boast of so large a number of these memorials as England, in spite of the hard usage they have received and their wanton destruction. About four thousand remain; and constantly we find the matrices cut in stone slabs, from which brasses have been torn; so that we may assume that quite as many have been destroyed as those which survive. The southern and eastern counties are most richly furnished with these monuments, whereas the western and northern counties have but few brasses. Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Kent are the most rich in this respect. The earliest brass of which we have any record is that of Simon de Beauchamp, who died before 1208. This is mentioned by Leland. The earliest brass now in existence is that of Sir John D'Aubernown at Stoke Dabernon, Surrey, which was fashioned in 1277. In the fourteenth century a very large number of brasses, remarkable for their beauty of form and execution, were made. The artistic workmanship began to decline in the fifteenth century, and in the following became utterly degenerate.