Handwritten Message Plaque – Antique Brass, Round

The Plaque

A circle, with a stepped border layered inward and a sunrise sculpted at the foot, its rays fanning up behind the writing. The handwriting stands raised across the open center. A small panel below the sunrise takes a name or a pair of years.

The round shape is doing something specific. There are no corners to lead the eye, so it lands on the writing first.

Your handwriting, not a font

Send a photograph of the note and we sculpt exactly what is on the paper: the slant, the spacing, the place where the pen pressed harder and the line went thick, the letter that trails off at the end. Nothing is redrawn, straightened or swapped for a typeface that looks similar. If the hand that wrote it was unsteady, the metal is unsteady in the same way.

Craftsmanship

Real copper and brass grown over the sculpted form rather than cast, which is how writing this fine survives at all. The writing, the layered border and the sunrise are each cut at their own height, from 2 to 5 mm off the ground, so every letter carries its own shadow and the rays stay distinct instead of flattening into a disc. The plaque is 8 to 10 mm thick and solid all the way through. The metal is bonded to the surface, not painted and not plated, so there is nothing to chip or peel away from the strokes.

What people send us

A last letter. A signature. A birthday message. A line from a card that got kept when the rest were thrown out. A child's first go at their own name. Any language, any script, as long as the photograph is clear enough to read.

Personalization

Two things: the handwriting itself, and the panel at the foot. The panel takes a name, a single date, or two years with a dash between them. Photograph the note flat, in daylight, with the whole of it in frame. A phone camera is fine. A design preview comes back by email and nothing is produced until you have approved it.

Built to last

Sealed under a UV-protective finish once the patina is applied. It holds its color in direct sun and through rain, so a covered porch is as safe as a hallway.

Specifications

• Material: electroformed copper and brass over a solid sculpted core
• Finish: raised antique brass on a darkened ground
• Thickness: 0.3 to 0.4 in (8 to 10 mm), solid through
• Relief: raised detail stands 0.1 to 0.2 in (2 to 5 mm) proud of the ground, at more than one height across the design
• Shape: round, with a layered border and a sculpted sunrise at the foot
• Sizes: eleven, from 6 x 4 to 10 x 10 inches, height x width
• UV-protected and weather-treated
• Made to order in our own workshop

A short line of writing works at any size. A full paragraph needs 8 x 8 or larger to stay comfortable to read.

Mounting

Three ways, chosen at checkout.

• Keyhole slots: two screws in the wall, lifts on and off.
• Peel-and-stick tape: sealed strips already on the back, no drilling.
• Floating stud mount: threaded studs on reinforced bosses that stand it clear of the wall.

Hardware and instructions are included with all three.

Where it works

A bedroom wall, a landing, beside a mirror in the hall. Somewhere you pass rather than somewhere you sit.

Care

Soft dry cloth. No polish and nothing abrasive; the dark ground behind the writing is meant to stay dark.