Fig. 236.—Genouillière, Sir Thomas Cheyne, 1368.
The orle or wreath is of the greatest rarity upon monumental brasses of the Camail and Jupon Period; Sir Reginald de Cobham, 1403, has a small jewelled orle, however, and one of the same character is shown on the brass of a knight of the d’Eresby family, 1410 (see [Fig. 222]). This piece of ornament originated in the band of cloth, silk, or velvet placed round the bascinet to support, and act as pad to, the heaume, and subsequently, when the latter was discarded, remained to be a foundation for the crest.
Fig. 237.—Sir Humphrey Littlebury, Holbeach, Lincs.
The earlier effigies and brasses of this period are in many of their details exemplifications of the studded and splinted style of defence, and are in fact of greater use in that respect than the few contemporary brasses and effigies which remain and are generally used as examples. The lost brass of Sir Miles de Stapleton, 1364 ([Fig. 235]), once in Ingham Church, Norfolk, is, for instance, an excellent example, probably the best; he has a studded jupon fitting tightly to the figure and escalloped at the hem, with haut-de-chausses or cuissarts of the same material. His genouillières are of single plates with two rows of reinforcing cuir-bouilli tabs depending below, while the jambarts are of metal splints affixed by rivets to the cuir-bouilli beneath. The long pendent tab of the belt should be noticed. The remarkable brass of Sir Ralph de Knevynton, 1370 (see [Fig. 204]), at Aveley, Essex, may also be quoted as showing the same features respecting the jupon and cuissarts; but the shape and position of the belt, the great length of the misericorde, its quillons, the crude genouillières, the long hauberk pointed in front, the pose and shape of the figure, and the chains depending from the breastplate, make this brass, which is of Flemish workmanship, one of the most singular of its kind. Sir John de Argentine, 1360 ([Fig. 218]) and Sir John de Paletoot, 1361, have cuissarts of studded material and pendent belts; Sir Thomas Cheyne, 1368, also has studded cuissarts, and jambarts of studded splints similar to those of Sir Miles de Stapleton, but his genouillières are most remarkable and quite unique. They appear to be constructed entirely of cuir-bouilli with pendent tabs of singular form reinforcing the jambarts ([Fig. 236]). The Cheynes appear to have been a family addicted to peculiarities, as Sir William Cheyne, 1375, has laminated sollerets of remarkable construction and also quite unique (see [Fig. 197]). Sir Humphrey Littlebury, Holbeach Church, Lincolnshire ([Fig. 237]), has cuissarts of cuir-bouilli with studs of an ornamental form; his genouillières are crude and of single plates, but the hem of his jupon is remarkable for graceful beauty, being deeply dagged into acanthus-leaf form. A rich hip-belt has a pendent tab at the side, but, strange to note, the sword is not suspended by it, but has a separate belt passing diagonally round the waist. This second belt is not unfrequently found in sculptured effigies but seldom upon brasses. The brass of Robert Albyn, c. 1400 ([Fig. 238]), Hemel Hempstead, Herts, where two belts are shown, has the sword suspended from both belts. Sir John de Cobham, 1375, the founder of Cobham College, has studded cuissarts and genouillières reminiscent of those of Sir Thomas Cheyne. The brass of Sir John de St. Quintin, 1397 ([Fig. 239]), in Brandsburton Church, Yorkshire, is remarkable for the very wide and elaborate hip-belt, which is fixed higher than is usual upon a shortened jupon, necessitating a small subsidiary belt from which to suspend the sword, and also an extra length of hauberk, which is curiously bent round the limbs. The coudières are larger than usual, and together with the genouillières are ornamented. After 1380, many jupons are shown with fur round the arm openings, as in the brass of Sir Nicholas Dagworth, 1401, where the great length of the sword-grip, ornamentation of the armour, great height of the bascinet, and elaborate hem to the jupon are special features.
Fig. 238.—Robert Albyn, 1400. Hemel Hempstead Church, Herts.
The years between 1400 and 1410 must be looked upon as a transition period, inasmuch as features distinctive of the Camail and Jupon and of the Surcoatless overlap each other. For example, the brass of Sir Thomas Braunstone, Constable of Wisbeach Castle, in Wisbeach Church, Cambridgeshire, dating from 1401 ([Fig. 240]), has taces, apparently five in number, although his neck is camailed, the jupon being dispensed with; whilst Sir John Hanley, who, together with his two wives, is shown upon a brass in Dartmouth Church, dated 1403, has five or six taces and a shortened jupon, edged with fur round the arm-holes, but with a camailed neck.