Personalized Address Plaque – Antique Brass Fleur-de-Lis Cartouche

The Sign

A wide cartouche with concave sides, a fleur-de-lis standing at the head and a second one dropped below the base. A double rule follows the outline. The number runs large across the width and the street name sits on a line beneath it.

Landscape rather than upright, which is why it suits a wall beside a door rather than above one.

Craftsmanship

Copper and brass grown over the sculpted form rather than cast. A fleur-de-lis lives or dies on the crispness of its three points and the band across its waist; cast, those points soften and the shape stops being a fleur-de-lis and starts being a blob. Grown over a form, they stay sharp. Points, rule and lettering are cut at their own heights, 2 to 5 mm off the ground. The plaque is 8 to 10 mm thick and solid all the way through.

Readable from the road

Because the format is wide, the numerals can be set larger than on an upright plaque of the same area. Raised brass on a ground left dark gives the contrast, and the width gives the size. It is one of the easiest signs in the range to read from a moving car.

Built for outside

Sealed under a UV-protective finish. Sun, rain and frost will not fade it or lift it, and there is nothing in the body to rust and streak the wall underneath.

Personalization

The house number and the street name. Send them exactly as you want them set. Long French or Creole street names sit comfortably here; the lettering is sized to suit the name rather than the name shortened to fit. A design preview comes back by email before anything is produced.

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: wide cartouche with concave sides, fleur-de-lis above and below, double rule border
• 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

The wide sizes are the ones to choose here. At 10 x 6 and 10 x 8 the proportions are exactly what the design was drawn for; the square sizes work but read tighter.

Mounting

Three ways, chosen at checkout.

• Keyhole slots: two screws, well spaced on a wide plaque, which makes it easy to get dead level.
• Peel-and-stick tape: sealed strips already applied to the back. No drilling into stucco.
• Floating stud mount: reinforced studs that stand it clear of the wall and throw a shadow under the lower fleur-de-lis.

Hardware and instructions are included with all three.

Where it works

Beside a front door, on a stucco or brick wall, on a courtyard gate. It suits New Orleans and French Quarter architecture, and anywhere with wrought iron already on the building.

Care

Soft dry cloth. No brass polish and nothing abrasive on the dark ground.