chevron gules (Stafford); 9. azure, a bend cottised between six lioncels
rampant, or (de Bohun). No. 4 similar to No. 1, with the omission of 2 and
3."
In later times thinner plates of metal were employed, a fact which largely
contributed to preclude much of the boldness in execution hitherto
displayed. A prodigality in shading, either by means of parallel lines or
by cross-hatching, also tended to mar the beauty of later work of this
kind. Nevertheless there are some good brasses of the Stuart period. These
sometimes consist of a single quadrangular plate, with the upper portion
occupied by armorial bearings and emblematical figures, the centre by an
inscription, and the lower portion by a representation of the deceased, as
at Forcett, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Frequently, however, as at
Rotherham and Rawmarsh, in the West Riding of the same county, the
inscription is surmounted by a view of the whole family, the father
kneeling on a cushion at a fald-stool, with his sons in a similar attitude
behind him, and the mother likewise engaged with her daughters on the
opposite side, while the armorial insignia find a place on separate shields
above. {57}