3. The original engraving was modified, fresh lines and shading being introduced to adapt it to contemporary fashion.
One of the finest examples of this latter kind of palimpsest brasses is a specimen which was made to honour the memory of Sir Walter and Lady Curson, at Waterperry, Oxon. The original was engraved in 1440, but subsequently altered to suit the style of armour and costume which prevailed in 1527.
Another interesting palimpsest is mentioned by Fairbank.[20] "It occurs in Ticehurst Church, Sussex. It has been made use of to commemorate John Wyborne, Esquire, and his two wives. The second wife, his widow, made her will in 1502, and she ordered a stone to be placed over herself and her husband; and this is what the executors did. They took a small slab bearing a brass figure of a man in armour, which had been engraved about 1365; there was no room for figures of the two wives of the same size as the figure already there, so they had a small figure placed on each side, little larger than half the size of the central one, and replaced the original inscription by one commemorating John Wyborne, who died 1490, and his two wives; their figures were engraved about 1510."
[20] F. R. Fairbank, in The Connoisseur.
THE OLDEST ENGLISH BRASS.
To the memory of Sir John D'Abernon. Date 1277. At Guildford, Surrey.
Brasses are of great educational value in so much as many reveal interesting points in connection with matters concerning dress and armour. But the student is warned against putting too much trust in the dates which they bear, for specimens were often laid down before the death of the person whose memory they perpetuate. The date of death and the style of decoration might thus be, in such cases, at variance historically. Beaumont says:[21]—
"Examples of this feature are to be found at Thame, Oxon, and Lambourne, Berks. This is especially noticeable in the case of shroud brasses, which were generally engraved and fixed during the lifetime of the person commemorated, the object being to remind him of his final bourne; in these cases blank spaces were usually left for the insertion of the date of death."