Brass rubbing

The concept of recording textures of things is more generally called making a rubbing.

Brass rubbings are created by laying a sheet of paper on top of a brass (then called "latten" - a zinc-copper alloy produced via the obsolete calamine brass process) and rubbing the paper with graphite, wax, or chalk, a process similar to rubbing a pencil over a piece of paper placed on top of a coin.

In the past rubbings were most commonly made using the equivalent of what nowadays is called "butcher's paper" [a 22–30-inch-wide (560–760 mm) roll of whitish paper] laid down over the brass and rubbed with "heelball", a waxy glob of black crayon once used to shine shoes.

Now most brass rubbers purchase special paper rolls of heavy duty black velvety material, and the crayons are gold, silver or bronze (other colours are available).

[1] Nonetheless, in many cases creating rubbings is banned by historical sites and churches.