My girlfriend did some brass (or crypt) rubbings at St. Martin’s in the Field when we went to London last year, and they turned out really well (with the added coolness factor of having done them herself, of course). Like to do one or two myself, so I’m just wondering if there are any comprable DIY brass rubbing sites in the North East U.S. [Starting from NYC and radiating outward] - Google seems to keep bringing up tourists’ recollections of St. Martin’s, or importers of said brass rubbings (not the same neato factor as D-I-Y at all).
I’m not sure if this is the same thing, but they have brass rubbing programs at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. However, after a quick look at their web page, all I found were programs geared towards children. (When I was a kid I did a miniature brass rubbing there on a school field trip.) You may want to contact them to see if they have what you’re looking for.
I was born in the middle of memorial brass country; my middle name is Norwich. I’m afraid you’re basically SOL for brass rubbing outside the British Isles and (north)western Europe. Memorial brasses didn’t catch on anywhere else, and they really lost popularity some time during the Umpteenth Century; the rich folk started going for full statues, and the poor folk couldn’t afford to be buried in a church, so no brass needed. Sorry, you’ll either have to fly back to England or deal with an importer.
(While my parents were teaching at UEA in Norwich in 1969/70, they did a fair number of brass rubbings, some of which are now in my possession. Their ‘star attraction’ is Sir Roger de Trumpington, the second-oldest known memorial brass, dating to 1289. I don’t think they let you rub the original brass any more; they’re afraid it will wear out. Anyhow, my parents had to book their two-hour slot months in advance; they showed up at the church and got to work quickly. Turns out, they were done rubbing with ten minutes to spare, so they just rolled up their rubbing and stood there admiring the brass for a while. While they stood, a deacon wandered by and told them, “I’ve been working in this church for 10 years now, and this is the first time I’ve seen that brass without a piece of paper on top of it!”)
SE Asia is another place to do rubbings. Some years back, my ex and I had a pair of temple rubbings from somewhere there (maybe her father said ‘Thailand’, or maybe not). He was over there with the Canadian Army during the Vietnam war.
Unfortunately, they’re long gone - she decided they were too Satanic and tossed them.
Don’t waste your time. I thought brass rubbing would be cool, but then I got down in the crypt of St. Martin’s, selected one of many fake rubbing plates and a crayon, and set to work. Not only was it boring, but the rubbing looked terrible at the start and got more and more hideous the longer I had it. I never did end up framing it; it was the only thing I threw away from my entire trip to England. I even saved the receipts from a Chinese restaurant because I liked how they wrote the pound sterling symbol. But the brass rubbing is history, and I have no regrets.
You’re not quite as SOL as you might think. Fiberglass replicas —really accurate ones— have been made of a number of the more “artistic” brasses and pop up at various places around the US. I’ve seen some in Carmel, CA. I made a few rubbings on Pier 39 in San Francisco about 25 years ago. They came out really nice, by the way. I still have one framed over my hearth here in Maryland. It’s late Gothic style, from the tomb of an abbess; it has St. Margaret (the abbess’ namesake), Mary & baby Jesus, a pacified dragon, and a very nice background. I’m sure some of the Sd’ers know this brass. Do any of you all know what the inscription in the scroll says? I believe it’s a line from St. John, something about sins.