Personalized Address Plaque – Antique Brass Eagle and Laurel

The Sign

A federal-style plate with an eagle standing at the head, wings spread level and a shield on its breast, and a laurel branch curving up from each lower corner. Three lines: the number large across the middle, the family name below it, and the established year at the foot.

This is the most formal sign in the range. It is drawn from the same vocabulary as a government building, and it reads that way on a house.

Craftsmanship

Copper and brass grown over the sculpted form rather than cast. The eagle is the reason that matters: the individual feathers along the trailing edge of each wing have to stay separate, and in a mold they close up into a solid sweep within one or two castings. Grown over a sculpted form they hold. Eagle, laurel and the three lines of lettering are cut at their own heights, 2 to 5 mm off the ground. The plate is 8 to 10 mm thick and solid all the way through.

Readable from the road

The eagle occupies the head of the plate and the number takes the widest part of the field, so the two do not compete. Raised brass over a ground left dark carries the number to the street; the name and year are for the doorstep.

Built for outside

UV-protected and weather-treated once the patina is applied. Snow, rain and full sun will not fade it, lift it or chalk it, and there is no steel in the body to rust and streak down brick.

Personalization

Three things: the number, the family name and the year. Full capitals suit this design; it is how the photographs are set and it matches the formality of the eagle. Send the wording exactly as it should appear. A design preview comes back by email before anything is made.

Specifications

• Material: electroformed copper and brass over a solid sculpted core
• Finish: raised antique brass on a blackened 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: federal plate with a sculpted spread eagle above and laurel branches at the corners
• Sizes: eleven, from 6 x 4 to 10 x 10 inches, height x width
• UV-protected and weather-treated for outdoor use
• Made to order in our own workshop

Wing feathers read individually from 8 x 8 upward. Below that the eagle is simplified into a stronger, plainer silhouette, which still works but is a different thing.

Mounting

Three ways, chosen at checkout.

• Keyhole slots: two screws in the wall, and it comes off in one movement.
• Peel-and-stick tape: sealed strips already applied to the back. No drilling.
• Floating stud mount: reinforced studs that hold it clear of the wall so the wings throw their own shadow, which is the way this design was meant to be seen.

Hardware and instructions are included with all three.

Where it works

A colonial or federal front, a black or dark green door, a brick facade, a white portico. It suits symmetry and looks out of place on anything asymmetric.

Gifting

Common as a gift to somebody retiring from the service, or for a first house bought after a long posting. The year on it usually marks the moving-in rather than anything else.

Care

Soft dry cloth. Work gently around the wing edges, where the metal is finest. No polish and nothing abrasive.