When well polished, take it to a tinsmith and he will make it up for you as a platter, or trim and bend the edges for a plaque.
In making the card-receiver, take the design off on tracing-paper, and then carefully trace it with a sharpened stick or end of a bone crochet-hook, over the impression-leaf on the sheet of brass. In this also the relief should be high, thus rendering it necessary that it should be hammered on the composition-bed. Polish and finish this in the same manner as the plaque.
Foxing, or sticking the metal to be embossed upon a block covered with pitch, is a favorite method with many workers. The block can be of iron or wood, and should measure eight or nine inches across; this rests upon a deep ring of straw, which is readily made by an ingenious boy, as it simply consists of the twisting several wisps of rye straw in the form of a large cable, and then bending them into a small ring of even thickness. Catch them in place with a large darning-needle filled with wrapping-twine. Nice rings, made of leather, and designed expressly for this purpose, can be obtained in the trade, but the home-made ones answer as well for any work a novice would be competent or even desirous of undertaking. The top of the block is covered with pitch, which should be warmed, and then given the slightest possible coating of oil, whenever a new object is to be placed upon it. Care must be taken that too much oil is not used, as in that case it will be impossible to make the surface of the brass adhere to the bed. In work of a nice nature, where the lines are many and fine, and the background complicated, this is by far the most satisfactory bed to use, and when the metal is “annealed” it will be found invaluable.
When working in very heavy metal, it is often necessary to soften it somewhat, especially if a deep relief is desired. This is accomplished by placing the plate upon a bed of glowing coals, and allowing it to remain there till it becomes soft, but not in the least melted, and then removing it with pincers. Hammering upon the cold metal is inclined to make it brittle, and at times slightly unmanageable, and this unpleasant quality can be overcome by annealing; but so much care and patience are required to accomplish this process successfully, that it is not very popular with young workers. In many larger designs, a very high relief is obtained by turning the brass after the plaque has been hammered upon the right side as much as seems necessary, and with the round end of the hammer sending strong, even blows into the figure, at whatever points the highest work is desired. By annealing the metal, and working the pattern from the inside after the background is finished, a very fine bunch of well-rounded grapes is easily formed, and makes a very nice subject for a fruit-dish or dining-room plaque. A dragon, and the emblem of St. Mark, both make unusually fine designs for a mediæval plaque.