Heraldic Birds and other Figures, Animate and Inanimate
In the same way that the lion asserted its pre-eminence among heraldic
beasts the Eagle, the most powerful of birds of prey, was adopted
as the symbol of victory from a time so early that one hesitates to
set a period to it, for in Chaldea and Assyria, 4000 B.C., the eagle
typified conquest, even as it did in the Middle Ages. The especially
characteristic attitude of the heraldic eagle when it is said to be
_displayed_ is first found in these early picture writings of the East,
and from thence through countless stages comes to adorn the surface of
the shields, to whose decoration its spreading form and radiating lines
so admirably lend themselves. The pose is, of course, a natural one, as
one may see when a gull hovers and backs in the air; but its decorative
power and its adaptability to a shield shape are so striking as to
suggest its invention for the purpose. The same necessity for clear
definition that influenced the drawing of the mediaeval lion caused the
eagle to be treated in a somewhat similar way, and the feathers of the
wings being wide spread with ample clear space between them, while the
body became to some extent attenuated, made the figure as conventional
as the lion, and similarly adaptable to decorative distribution on a
surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 105.--Shield of the Emperor from the Tomb of Prince
Edmund at Kings Langley. Early Fifteenth Century.]
A good example of the heraldic eagle of the Middle Ages is on one
of the shields that decorate the tomb of Edmund Plantagenet at Kings
Langley, Herts (Fig. 105). This, the eagle with two heads of the Holy
Roman Empire, alludes to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who though he was
never actually Emperor, got so far as to be elected King of the Romans
in 1257, and the arms of the Empire are constantly ascribed to him.
The skeleton sketch that is useful in blocking out an eagle in its
space will take some such form as Fig. 106.
[Illustration: FIG. 106.]
In the mediaeval period eagles were always shown on shields in the
pattern-like displayed position, whether they were single or double
headed, until Renaissance heraldry in its reversion to classic types
introduced the eagle of the Roman Ensigns and Monuments, which
thenceforth has had to be taken into account when eagles are described
in blazon. Thus it is now necessary to state whether the bird is
displayed, is close or is rising. An eagle is close when it stands in
profile with its wings folded, and is rising when it stands in the same
general position but with its wings raised. An eagle in the position
of that of the Roman Ensign is sometimes blazoned “an eagle with
wings displayed,” and must not, of course, be confused with “an eagle
displayed.” When they are flying they, like other birds, are said to be
volant. They are _armed_ and _membered_ as to their beaks and feet when
difference of colour renders it necessary to mention those details.
Other birds are rarely if ever displayed.
Falcons usually have bells strapped to their legs with thongs called
jesses, and then are blazoned as _jessed_ and _belled_. They are
sometimes _hooded_ also. The hood covering the eyes has an opening for
the beak and is usually decorated with a tuft of feathers.
A cock is said to be _armed_ with his beak and spurs, _crested_ as to
his comb, and _jowlopped_ of his wattles.
A peacock when it carries its train raised and fully spread is
blazoned, with great and obvious propriety, “a peacock in his pride,”
but simply as a peacock, without qualification, when the tail is
trailed.
The pelican, the well-known emblem of maternal love, is shown standing
in her nest and feeding her brood with blood from her breast, and
with her wings in a displayed position with the points downward in an
attitude of protection. In this position she is called a pelican in her
piety.
As an imaginary variant of an actual thing it may be convenient to
refer here to the martlet, the very distinctive heraldic bird without
feet, the “martlette of the sunne,” as old armorists call it. It is
shaped like a swallow but without feet, for it was believed to live
entirely in the air. Hence it was assigned as a mark of cadency to the
fourth son, who, being so far from succession to the land, had only his
own powers to sustain him (see Fig. 294).
Martlets form part of the arms that are ascribed to Edward the
Confessor, though in the example at Westminster Abbey the birds
distinctly have feet and may perhaps have been meant for some other
bird altogether, perhaps doves, whose symbolism of peace caused their
early appearance among Royal insignia.
[Illustration: Seal of the Emperor Sigismund, as King of Hungary.]
[Illustration: Seal of Charles IV. as Emperor.]
[Illustration: Seal of Dauphiny, 1494.]
[Illustration: Italian Medal by Pisano, 1441.]
[Illustration: Italian Medal, attributed to Bartolo Talpas, XVth
Century.]
Of imaginary birds the phoenix is most interesting as a symbol of the
perpetuation of life, and early writers never tired of describing in
elaborate detail how the fabled bird, which they, however, accepted and
believed in as a natural fact, effected his rejuvenescence through fire
of his own kindling. Therefore the phoenix is represented in heraldry
as resting upon its pyre. In recent times it has been customary to
depict the bird as shaped like an eagle, but in earlier examples the
head was crested like a peacock. Its proper colour was purely fanciful,
some examples of great beauty being blue and gold, the preponderance of
tincture varying with the fancy of the artist.
The Harpy of classic story appears in heraldry in the shapes of eagles
with the faces and breasts of women, and this appears to have been the
only figure, with one exception, which combines the human form with
that of a bird, for the bird-headed beings of the Assyrian bas-reliefs
and other forms of Eastern art were not among those adopted into
our heraldry, though there are a few instances in German work. The
exceptions are the swans with women’s faces that in the fourteenth
century decorated some of the hallings, of hangings of tapestry or
embroidery, as especially emphasized versions of the chivalric symbol
of womanhood that the swan was considered to be. For this reason it was
adopted as a badge at a time which assiduously fashioned its manners
after the traditionary chivalry of King Arthur and his knights, and
when every kind of poetic and symbolic heraldry reached its fullest
development.
FISH.--Of heraldic fish the Dolphin may perhaps be considered the most
distinguished, mainly from its association in former times with the
heir to the throne of France; but it is occasionally met with in our
heraldry, generally perhaps as typical of fish in general, as in the
arms of the Fishmongers Company of London. It is represented with its
body curved, and is then said to be _embowed_, and it also occurs in
the other position referred to below. When it is blazoned _proper_ its
colour, heraldically, is green with red fins and tail.
Other fish occur as punning allusions to their owners’ names, e.g.
the Lucies (pike) of the family of Lucy, whose arms are one of the
quarterings of the Duke of Northumberland.
A fish when placed horizontally across the shield is blazoned _naiant_,
or swimming, and when perpendicular as though breathing on the surface
it is _hauriant_.
HUMAN FIGURES.--The human figure appears heraldically as representing
religious or symbolic persons, and in combination with other forms it
makes those composite figures which express a conjunction of symbolic
ideas. A woman’s head and breasts joined to the body of a lion made the
well-known Sphinx, a figure closely associated with Egypt, to which
country and to services rendered therein it usually alludes in modern
heraldry. The Greek sphinx is composed of the head and bust of a woman
joined to the body and legs of a dog, and in addition is winged. Its
occurrence is rare in heraldry, a recent instance being the Greek
sphinx sejant, which is the crest of the University of Leeds.
[Illustration: Printer’s Mark of Grimm & Wirsung, Augsburg, 1521. From
a volume by Erasmus. Hans Weidlitz.]
[Illustration: Arms of Schwingshärtein, a Nuremberg family. German,
_ca._ 1580.
The device is a punning one, the figure waving hair being in allusion
to the name of the family.]
[Illustration: Bookplate by Albert Dürer. _Circa_ 1520.]
In conjunction with a fish’s tail the body of a woman forms the
Mermaid, the beautiful Syrena of old writers, who never tire of
telling how, like the harpy, she charms the shipmen with her song.
Nevertheless, she was of sinister character, “glad and merry in tempest
and heavy and sad in faire weather.” She is usually represented holding
a looking-glass in which she regards herself while she combs her long
hair. The male of the species is called a Triton, and usually holds a
trident as the symbol of naval dominion. Indeed he is sometimes called
Neptune, and crowned with a spiked crown, the form known as an Eastern
crown that is described and illustrated under that head. Another
semi-human form is the Centaur, the favourite badge of King Stephen,
the classic monster, half man and half horse and armed with a bow, that
is sometimes called a Sagittarius.
Male figures were frequently described as Savage Men, and were
represented rough and shaggy with hair, and with wreaths of oak about
their loins, the blazon being: a savage man ppr. wreathed about the
loins with an oak wreath vert. In some instances they were wreathed
about the temples also.
Heads of both sexes, arms and legs, are used as charges and more
frequently as crests, and are described as couped or erased, at the
shoulder or the neck, as the case may be.
The whole Arm from the shoulder is shown bent and is then blazoned,
an arm _embowed_. It should also be stated in the blazon whether the
arm is dexter or sinister, and whether, if not naked, it is vested
(and if so of what colour), or in armour, when it is described as an
arm _vambraced_. _In armour_ is often substituted for the later term.
Pairs of arms grasping an object, drawing a bow or wielding a hammer,
are also met with. When the arm does not extend beyond the elbow it is
blazoned a cubit arm, and its position, whether erect or otherwise,
must be specified.
Human hands are borne by several families into whose name “Main”
enters, either as Tremaine, Maynard, etc., and among other families by
the O’Neils, and in the well-known badge of Ulster, the distinguishing
badge of a baronet. They are usually depicted erect and couped at the
wrist, and are assumed to be open unless it is otherwise stated.
Anything depictable may be used as a charge, but in this wide field
there are still certain particular objects, that single themselves out
for more detailed treatment than the rest, and of these the cross in
its many varied forms, the rose and the fleur-de-lis are the principal.
CROSSES.--In a system of heraldry which took its rise from a military
Christianity the cross naturally became a much-employed symbol under
the various forms which the necessities of distinction or decoration
suggested. Although it has been dealt with to some extent under the
head of ordinaries, it is as a charge that it reaches its greatest
variety and beauty. The plain cross with limbs of unequal length, which
is called a passion cross, is sometimes placed upon steps or degrees,
as in Fig. 107, when it may be described as a cross calvary.
Of the more decorative varieties those which terminate in a manner
suggested by the fleur-de-lis are among the most usual and beautiful.
Probably many of them were decorative before they became distinctive,
for among the early sculptures are many examples of decorated crosses
with foliated ends which follow none of the familiar forms and are
obviously purely ornamental.
[Illustration: FIG. 107.--Cross Calvary.]
[Illustration: FIG. 108.--Cross Flory.]
[Illustration: FIG. 109.--Cross Fleuretté.]
[Illustration: FIG. 110.--Cross Patonee.]
[Illustration: FIG. 111.--Cross Moline.]
Crosses in general are drawn with limbs of equal length except where
the shape of a shield suggests the lengthening of the lower limb
in order to satisfactorily place the object in its field, but the
intention is that the limbs are to be considered equal and not like
those of the passion cross. The width of crosses may be considerably
varied, for difference consists not in the proportions of parts to
each other but in essential variations of form. The floriated, or
otherwise varied, cross may therefore be made of any proportion that
the arrangement of the shield may suggest; that is to say, the same
adaptability exists in these crosses as in the ordinaries, and their
proportions may and should be varied in relation to the field they
occupy and the charges with which they are associated. Though the
floriated crosses are all derived from one source, their various
shapes have long become fixed and now constitute heraldic difference.
It will be useful therefore to observe that the end of a cross flory
(Fig. 108) may approach very closely the form of a fleur-de-lis so
long as confusion is not caused with the cross fleuretté (Fig. 109),
in which the fleur-de-lis appears joined to the cross, rather than as
though developed from it. The cross patonee (Fig. 110) differs from the
cross flory merely in that the limbs of the former increase in width
outwards, the lines radiating from the centre in a very pleasant way.
In early shields the two latter forms are used indifferently for each
other, as in the arms ascribed to Edward the Confessor, and in such
cases choice may, of course, be made of one or other form; but it is
obvious that when definite distinction between similar forms has been
arrived at it should be observed and followed in later renderings.
[Illustration: FIG. 112.--Seal of Anthony de Bec, Bishop of Durham,
1283-1311.]
The cross moline (Fig. 111) has ends like a fer-de-moline or millrind.
A very beautiful example occurs on the seal of Anthony de Bec, Bishop
of Durham at the end of the thirteenth century (Fig. 112). This form
of cross moline was distinguished by writers of a late time from the
ordinary form with more pointed ends as a cross recercelée, but it was
really the same thing under a different name.
[Illustration: FIG. 113.--Cross Patée.]
The cross patée or formée (Fig. 113) is that which occurs on the
Imperial crown and other Royal insignia. This is a very graceful form
when the limbs are well divided and are drawn with pleasant curves,
as in the crown in Fig. 164. In later examples there has been an
unfortunate widening of the ends until they almost touch each other
at the corners with the result that the figure has the appearance of
a square that is pierced with four radiating vesica-shaped holes and
hardly that of a cross at all.
[Illustration: FIG. 114.--Cross Crosslet.]
[Illustration: FIG. 115.--Cross crosslet Fitchée.]
[Illustration: FIG. 116.--Maltese Cross.]
The cross crosslet (Fig. 114) becomes (in Fig. 115) a cross crosslet
fitchée by its lower limb being pointed, in allusion to the temporary
cross thrust upright into the ground in order, it may be, to serve
as a symbol of hope and consolation to a dying soldier. It must not
be supposed, however, that every coat with a cross crosslet fitchée
originated in the Crusades. Other crosses may be fitchée in a similar
way, the point taking the place of the whole lower limb as in the
example, but in some cases it is made to merely continue the lower
limb, or, in the case of a cross patée fitchée, to issue from the
middle of the lower end, and in such cases the cross is said to be
_fitched at the foot_.
[Illustration: FIG. 117.--Cross Bottonée.]
[Illustration: FIG. 118.--Cross Pommel.]
[Illustration: FIG. 119.--Cross Urdée.]
The eight-pointed or Maltese cross, a development from the cross patée
(Fig. 116), is one of the forms most used in the insignia of Orders
of Knighthood, the Order of the Bath, for example, and of St. John of
Jerusalem among others, and is one of a group of crosses distinguished
from each other by the number of their points. A cross of fourteen
points occurs in the badge of the Order of St. Michael and St. George,
and consists of seven limbs of two points each.
The cross bottonée (Fig. 117) is sometimes thought to be a corruption
of the cross crosslet, whose corners are frequently rounded in early
examples, or it may indeed have been designed to represent buds, as old
armorists say, and if so is a perfectly intelligible and expressive
symbol.
Crosses pomell (Fig. 118), urdée or clichée (Fig. 119), potent (Fig.
120), furchée (Fig. 121), are some of a large number of crosses that
are but rarely used.
The cross tau, derived from the Greek letter of that name, is the cross
of St. Anthony (Fig. 122).
[Illustration: FIG. 120.--Cross Potent.]
[Illustration: FIG. 121.--Cross Furchée.]
[Illustration: FIG. 122.--Cross Tau.]
Crosses may at any time be represented as in relief, which again may
be accented by means of a central arris or ridge which gives lines of
light and shade; and this treatment is especially suitable to metal
work, as is witnessed by many beautiful examples on church bells among
other things.
Care is necessary, however, in black and white drawing that the
indication of an arris does not suggest that the cross is “party” in
any way.
THE FLEUR-DE-LIS is one of the forms derived from a remote antiquity to
become a widespread symbol throughout the whole of mediaeval heraldry.
Probably derived from the iris or some similar flower form, it is found
in the most ancient and the most modern decoration. Even the recent
excavations of the palace of King Minos at Knossos in Crete disclosed
forms of this figure on the wall frescoes. Its ornamental beauty
as well as its spiritual symbolism easily account for its heraldic
prevalence, and even before regular heraldry was formulated the emblem
had a quasi-heraldic existence on the crowns and sceptres of the Royal
seals. Its decorative value needs no pointing out, for its graceful
lines are not only beautiful in themselves but are easily adapted to
harmonize with almost any form with which they may be in ornamental or
heraldic relation.
[Illustration: FIG. 123.--Early Twelfth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 124.--Late Twelfth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 125.--Late Twelfth Century.]
Of the examples that are given here Fig. 123 is taken from the seal
of King Louis VII of France, early in the twelfth century, on which
it appears as the termination of a sceptre. The more distinctively
heraldic form occurs on the oval counter-seal of his successor, Philip
II, on which it appears as a badge without a shield, about the year
1180 (Fig. 124). A very beautiful form of the thirteenth century (Fig.
126) is also of French origin, and that which occurs on the shield of
the Black Prince may be considered typical of the fourteenth century
(Fig. 127). As in all these instances, the fleur-de-lis generally has
but three leaves, but in some early examples the whole five petals of
the iris are suggested by the inclusion of intermediate forms between
the three principal ones (Fig. 125). These were sometimes leaflike, as
in Fig. 128, an example of the fifteenth century, but more usually
are thin stems which terminate in small flowerlike forms. A further
beautiful example is the common seal of Godmanchester, co. Hunts
(Fig. 129). Fleurs-de-lis are then said to be seeded (a term that was
probably made by some late armorist in giving a meaning to a form he
did not understand) or florencée, from the invariable character of the
fleur-de-lis, the “Lily of the City,” in the Arms of Florence (Fig.
130). The elaboration of the simple leaflike forms began as early as
the middle of the fourteenth century at a time when the decorative
sense was untrammelled, and it is in the freely designed illustrations
of the MSS. that the first examples are found. The illustration (Fig.
131) is after one of a number of them that are repeated in various
colours, but of similar form, in a book of the poems of Convenevole
da Prato, Petrarch’s tutor, which was made and painted with miniatures
and other ornaments for Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, about the year
1340, and was probably executed in Florence. It is somewhat surprising
to find at so early a date an example of the highly elaborated form
which became very general in the later Italian decoration.
[Illustration: FIG. 126.--Thirteenth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 127.--Fourteenth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 128.--Fifteenth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 129.--Seal of Godmanchester, Co. Hunts.]
[Illustration: FIG. 130.--Fleur-de-lis from the Pedestal of the Lion,
Florence. Donatello. Fifteenth Century.]
A beautiful example of the decorated fleur-de-lis of the fifteenth
century has already been referred to (Fig. 128).
[Illustration: FIG. 131.--Fourteenth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 132.--Fifteenth Century.]
[Illustration: FIG. 133.--Eighteenth Century.]
About this time also instances occur of fleur-de-lis of the simpler
form but with decorated surfaces, as in that from a fifteenth
century book of the hours that is one of the illustrations to the
Comte de Laborde’s treatise on “Les Fleurs-de-lis Heraldiques et
les Fleurs-de-lis Naturelles,” _Revue Archaelogique_, in which the
conventional fleur-de-lis (Fig. 132) is decorated with natural lilies.
Like other decorative details the fleur-de-lis rapidly deteriorated
in the general artistic decadence that followed the Tudor period, and
during and after the latter half of the sixteenth century the beautiful
and characteristic grace of line was lost, and the form became blobby
and heavy, as in the eighteenth century French example (Fig. 133),
while the coarse and ugly shapes that are commonly seen in ordinary
modern work make it difficult to believe that they could have been
derived, even remotely, from so beautiful a source.
ROSES.--As a Royal badge a golden rose was used by Edward I, and was
depicted with a stalk and leaves similar to the badge of the Malatesta
in Italy in later times. In such cases it must be blazoned “leaved and
slipped,” otherwise it would be rendered as the conventionalized flower
alone, the only leaves shown in the latter being those of the calyx,
which appear between the petals and are heraldically called _barbs_.
These are frequently mentioned on the blazon, e.g. a rose gules barbed
and seeded ppr., the seeds being the centre. Of the conflicting roses
that brought such ruin on the gentry of England the red rose of
Lancaster had been the badge of Henry IV, as the white rose irradiated
was that of Edward IV, the latter badge resulting from a combination
of the rose with the sun, which was another Yorkist emblem. Henry VII
united the red and white rose badges, as he had united the great rival
houses that they symbolized. Sometimes a single rose was made per pale
gu. and ar., or else quarterly of those tinctures (in the former case
the white half retained the rays that usually surrounded the white rose
of York), but the method which has come down in general use is that
of a double rose, the white within the red, or vice versa. In this
form Henry VII made it part of the collar of the Order of the Garter,
and thus it appears sculptured on the walls of St. George’s Chapel at
Windsor. In many instances the York rose retained its rays and the rose
of Lancaster was placed within it, as in Fig. 134, which is sculptured
on the exterior walls of the choir. In many of these the ends of the
petals do not turn over as is most usual, but the modelling indicates a
somewhat similar form. An interesting example of the Tudor rose as used
by Queen Elizabeth is that which was found deeply incised in the wood
of her coffin in Westminster Abbey (Fig. 135). This Queen signified
the union of the Roses in yet another way in the badge that had been
her mother’s, in which the tree-stock which supports the white falcon
sprouts with red and white roses on the same stem.
[Illustration: FIG. 134.]
[Illustration: FIG. 135.]
The Tudor rose has been united by dimidiation to many other badges,
to the pomegranate and to a sheaf of arrows by Queen Mary, and to the
thistle by James I and his successors, of whom Queen Anne used the two
emblems growing from one stem, as in the present Union badge of the
rose, thistle and shamrock. The Tudor rose crowned still remains the
Royal badge for England.
THE HARP.--As the Arms of Ireland as well as for the beauty of form
with which it may be invested, the harp is of the greatest interest
both generally (as the symbol of minstrelsy) and appropriately; for the
fame of the Irish as harpists was widespread even in the early Middle
Ages, when they were among the finest of the world. And although any
symbol, whatever it may be, becomes hallowed by association, it cannot
but be felt that the harp is peculiarly fitted to be the emblem of a
people so full of artistic and romantic enthusiasm.
[Illustration: FIG. 136.]
[Illustration: FIG. 137.]
[Illustration: FIG. 138.]
The heraldic harp was at first very simple and always graceful in form,
following that of the minstrels, the small harp that was played resting
on the knee or held suspended from the neck. Examples of the minstrel’s
harp are Fig. 136 from a thirteenth century French MS. and Fig. 137
from a Tudor MS.
As a device for Ireland, it first appears on the Great Seal in that
of Queen Elizabeth (Fig. 138), when it was used as a badge and was
ensigned with the Imperial crown, as are all Royal badges.
This type of harp is the same as that in the Wappen und Stammbuch by
Jost Amman, 1579, and was evidently the shape that was in heraldic
fashion at that period.
In the next reign it became definitely the Arms of Ireland, as is so
quartered on the Royal Shield by James I, where it has occupied the
third quarter unmoved throughout the changes of its fellow quarterings.
Its form continued to follow more or less that of the minstrel’s harp
until the time of Charles II, when the familiar winged figure was made
its principal characteristic (Fig. 139). This, however, has no special
heraldic significance, but is merely a variety of ornamental treatment.
While it presents opportunities for the highest efforts of art in
the treatment of its figure, as is evidenced by Mr. Alfred Gilbert’s
beautiful harp on the tomb of the Duke of Clarence at Windsor, in the
majority of instances it is altogether without the grace which is
its reason for existence, even when it does not quite descend to the
unlovely lumpiness of Georgian and later times. The possible advantages
of its greater weight in the design as compared with the slighter form,
a weight which tends to effect satisfactory balance with the other
quarters, are counterbalanced by its disadvantages, while the addition
of Celtic tracery to the minstrel’s harp makes it more completely
allusive and helps the composition at the same time. Nevertheless the
figure harp may be very beautiful.
The simpler form is now very generally reverted to, and when artistic
reasons direct the choice, there are no heraldic considerations that
need fetter it. The Arms of Ireland are blazoned: Az. a harp Or
stringed Arg.
[Illustration: FIG. 139.--The Great Seal of Charles II for Ireland.]
Before leaving for a time the further consideration of the shield it
will be convenient to refer to the very beautiful method of relieving
and enriching surfaces which is called Diapering, and is a notable
feature of the more elaborate kinds of heraldry. Numerous and excellent
examples of its use may be found on the sculptured shields of the
monuments and chantries, as well as on incised brasses, in enamels and
in stained glass.
Coming into heraldic use in the thirteenth century, it was soon
extensively applied to the decoration of armorial shields and
especially of their fields and ordinaries. In some instances charges
also were diapered, but only when they were flat in character and when
the general treatment and material lent themselves to the method. In
most cases it was confined to plain surfaces. The patterns were in many
instances derived from those that had been employed from ancient times
in textile decoration.
Whenever diapering is applied to a shield it is purely ornamental in
character, and in many instances is geometrical in plan, having no
forms that could possibly be mistaken for charges, and so be likely to
interfere with the clear statement of the arms. The example is one of
the many beautifully diapered shields that decorate the shrine of the
Percies in Beverley Minster. In sculpture proper, when the design was
cut out of the surface, a pattern such as that of Fig. 140 was found
very suitable to the material and to the method of working it; when,
however, the diaper was modelled up, as in the gesso decoration of
ceremonial shields, or was incised in reverse, as in a seal, the design
frequently took the form of flowing lines as the readiest means of
getting the ornate effect that was required. An example of this latter
method may be referred to in the Great Seal of Henry IV at p. 18, Fig.
2.
[Illustration: FIG. 140.--Diapered Shield from the Percy Shrine in
Beverley Minster. Fourteenth Century.]
In the early examples the diaper, like the semée already referred to,
was treated as though it were a piece of an ornamental fabric stretched
over the shield and passing behind the charges without being affected
or displaced by them. The Renaissance work shows the diaper more
especially adapted to the occasion, as in a Florentine shield from the
Palazzo Guadagni and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is
beautifully decorated in raised lines of gesso which follow the outline
of the figure at a little distance from it, and the rest of the
decoration accommodates itself to the shape of the spaces in a manner
that is especially satisfactory, as conveying the impression of being
carefully designed for its particular purpose, with each part in due
relation to the others.
[Illustration: FIG. 141.--Diapered Shield in Painted Gesso at Alloa
House. The Arms of Henricus de Erskine. 1224. Geo. W. Eve.]
The illuminations of the manuscripts were frequently diapered with
designs drawn in lines of gold on the ground colour, and a lighter or
darker tint of the ground colour was similarly employed, sometimes
also in combination with gold. Indeed, the possibilities of diapering
as surface decoration are almost without limit if it is reasonably
handled. Its effect in enriching and adding interest to simple forms
and spaces is shown in the treatment of the Arms of Henricus de
Erskine (Fig. 141) and the shield of John, fifth Lord Erskine, and his
wife, Lady Margaret Campbell (Fig. 142), two of the series of shields
executed in painted gesso for the hall, Alloa House, Clackmannanshire.
It is very useful in monochrome, as in engraving for instance, as a
means of distinguishing contiguous spaces; in the way that line tints
were employed to do before a colour value was ascribed to them. Being,
of course, completely under control to be employed or omitted at will,
it has none of the objections of the tincture lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 142.--Shield of John, Fifth Lord Erskine. Painted
gesso. Geo. W. Eve.]
The tone effect of diapering must be taken into account, and the
consequent emphasis of the charges, unless their character is very
elaborate and broken up, and in that case there may be a tendency to
confuse their lights and thus obscure and spoil the whole effect.
Discretion is therefore very necessary in applying that which properly
handled is a very useful and decorative device. It has been said that
diaper must have no design of heraldic significance, and this must be
so wherever it is employed on the actual armorials. When, however, it
is used as a background or other extra-armorial decoration the converse
is the case, and badges and charges of an allusive character become
the most suitable motives that can be employed.
Diapers of complete arms occur on a box of champlevé enamel in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, whose decorations consist of lozenge-shaped
spaces filled with the arms of de Valence and others, and in the
similar work on the table of the tomb of William de Valence in
Westminster Abbey. In the portrait medals the background was often
enriched with armorial diapers of distinctive charges, such as the
fleur-de-lis background to the head of Louis XII and the ermine one
of Anne de Bretagne, both of which are excellent examples (Fig. 143).
Similar diapers applied to architectural features are alluded to at p.
205.
[Illustration: FIG. 143.--Medal of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany.
Fifteenth Century.]