Score

Thanks to whoever added the fabulous picture. Could it be a headstone? So intricate.

I'm glad you like it ... and glad don't mind the liberty I took about just adding it (couldn't resist; it just seemed too appropriate)! It's part of a headstone in the old Jewish cemetery of Prague.

I love to visit old cemeteries and wish I could see that one. We used to walk with my grandmother in MS to the cemetery to put flowers on the graves and I always liked doing it. I went with a friend to one in Crested Butte that had some very old Russian graves. In England I did brass rubbings with a friend in some of the churches. We did the Lady and the Knight if I remember correctly.

Oh, wow. Did you make your own patterns?

I used to go walking in the local cemetery with my grandmother as well when I was little (sometimes to put flowers on the graves, sometimes because the fastest way to one of the tram stations near my grandma's home just happened to be through, and not around the cemetery). Don't remember particularly "liking" it, but at least I learned early on not to be scared in a cemetery ... though I admit there's still a difference between that particular one, which I've thus come to know, and a cemetery I don't know at all (particularly at or after dusk, if it's an old one with lots of yew trees and/or shady, tall dark trees and lots of old gravestones).

It so happens that I just had a few photos digitized, btw, and among those was the original of the Prague picture as well. I'll try to find a way to email it to you!

Just sent it, by FB and email.

I've only ever seen images of brass rubbings; heard, though, that some people, in addition to doing rubbings off actual brass plaques found on church monuments and graves, also create their own brass plates from scratch to work with. (Perhaps to avoid the coldness surrounding the real thing? Of course, not knowing ANYthing about the whole thing myself, I wouldn't even know where to start ... either working off actual church plaques or creating plates of my own ...) Thanks for explaining how it actually works, in any event!

I've come across "Find a Grave" a number of times online. It's an interesting site, particularly as far as graves of famous people are concerned. Which reminds me -- gotta add another book to this list: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil! Can't believe I forgot it when first voting here ...

I would guess they would need special permission to do that as it might damage the old brass. I wouldn't know where to start either. I had to work with molten metal in college sculpture class and it was scary for me.

Glad you remembered Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I had to read that book as the cover and title are too cool. I had nightmares about the white bulldog for about a year and could never figure out why.

Going to check my email now, thanks, Alice

Yes, I think working with molten metal would scare me as well!

I looked up "brass rubbings" on Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_ru... ); there it doesn't sound as if people were asking for permission to work off church and cemetery monuments, or at least initially they don't seem to have done so. But perhaps that was then and this is now ... in any event, it sounds like a fascinating technique, and the images resulting from it look absolutely enchanting!

I looked up "brass rubbings" on Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_ru... ); there it doesn't sound as if people were as..."

At the time it never crossed my mind that we might be damaging the original brasses. I did try to hurry as it was time consuming and COLD and DAMP.