Brass

About

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, harder than copper and more golden in tone, and it casts, turns and polishes well. Medieval workshops around Dinant, in the Meuse valley, turned out so many brass lecterns, basins and candlesticks that such wares came to be called dinanderie. Many of the celebrated plaques of the Kingdom of Benin, from the 16th and 17th centuries, are commonly called bronzes but are in fact cast brass.

Engraved brass memorial plates set into church floors survive in large numbers in England, and Islamic metalworkers inlaid brass basins and candlesticks with silver and copper. In the 20th century brass became a favourite of lighting and furniture designers: the Hagenauer workshop in Vienna made stylised brass figures and objects, and mid-century lamps paired it with glass and lacquered steel. Look for a warm yellow tone that darkens to brown unless it is polished.