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Bits of Brummyjum

Monument from 1823 to David Owen ('Gent')* in the entrance of St. Philip's, the cathedral, sculpted by William Hollins. Hollins produced a large number of monuments, especially in St. Philip's and St. Paul's. This monument is a particularly ornate, but a typical piece of Hollins' work, with the urn, draped fabric and drooping foliage. The monument was originally placed outside, and was described by the anonymous and rather opinionated author of the 1825 'Picture of Birmingham' as an 'ill-placed showy mass' and 'one of those which are expressly known as "bits of brummyjum" [depicting a] decently-sized funeral urn, enveloped in profuse folds of sheeting, apparently just taken from the wash-tub. [...] When will the representatives of the unlearned defunct be taught the propriety of applying their purer sources of sentimental post-obit-ism than the pattern card of a stone cutter?'

'Bits of brummyjum', spelt in any number of ways, was a derogatory term for many of the Birmingham wares, of which this author is particularly negative about throughout their book. These kinds of wares are seen as cheap and aspiring to be something that they were not. Wealthier people though, also disliked that the objects that once only they could afford, and which offered them some distinction, could now be replicated and sold more cheaply to a wider range of people. William Hollins himself was perhaps hindered by his lack of formal training and possibly stigmatised by his more humble origins and much of his work (see list here) was criticised at some point throughout his life, including the Moor Street public offices, the dispensary and Christ Church (the latter was not all his work).

*David Owen was a timber merchant living in Selly Grove in the parish of Northfield