English: Plaque, 1554, Champlevé enamel on copper V&A Museum no. 4358-1857

Place - England

Dimensions - Height 17.2 cm, Width 13.3 cm

Object Type - This plaque may have been commissioned as a memorial. Similar ones can be seen in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, where they denote the stalls reserved for the Knights of the Order of the Garter.

People - Sir Thomas Tonge (d.1536) was Clarenceux King of Arms, an important post in the College of Arms. His wife Susan (d.1565) survived her husband by 30 years and became First Lady of the Privy Chamber to Mary I. As a Roman Catholic, she would not have been able to commission such a plaque until Mary Tudor became Queen in 1553, 18 years after the death of Thomas. Protestants did not approve of memorials of this sort.

Materials & Making - Enamelling was the only way of colouring metal permanently. It was often used to depict coats of arms as colour is an essential part of the heraldic language. Specialist enamellers worked on both precious metals (gold and silver) and on base metals (copper and brass).

Places -

This plaque may originally have been made for the church of St Mary Overy, London, now Southwark Cathedral.