Crook of Basel (Period)
The term “crook of Basel” refers to a specific stylization of a charge found in the arms of Basel. In its original form, it was drawn as a bishop’s crozier [Zurich ix], but by 1413 it had assumed its present, highly stylized form [Conz.Const. ccv], to the point where it may be considered a separate charge.
Alda Mauricia bears: Purpure, a crook of Basel argent.
Hieronymus van Gent and Annetje van Leuven bear jointly as a badge: A crook of Basel Or.
Pair of shears (Period)
Pair of scissors (Period)
Shears (more fully a “pair of shears”) is a cutting instrument with a pair of opposing blades joined by a spring. Medievally, they came in several sizes, from large shears the height of a man (used to shear the wool from sheepskin) to small hand-held shears used by seamstresses in sewing; the latter are also called “snips”. The blades might have either pointed or rectangular ends; rectangular ends are perhaps more common in mundane heraldry (as in the arms of Gennip or Gennep, c.1370, [Gelre 88v]), but the triangular blades are also found (Langen, 1605 [Siebmacher 181]). The latter are more popular in the Society.
Shears have their blades to base, slightly open, by Society default.
Related to shears is the “scissors” or “pair of scissors”: the opposing blades pivot on a bolt, and have handles on the other end to open and close them. Scissors are likewise a period charge, found in the arms of Jungingen, c.1340 [Zurich 196], and the Guild of Tailors of Basel, 1415 [Volborth 184]; the handles should not be drawn in the modern ergonomic design. Society heraldry distinguishes between the shears and the scissors, though little heraldic difference is granted. The scissors’ default orientation is with points opened to chief, but that fact is frequently blazoned explicitly.
Blanking shears (Accepted)
In Society armory, we find “blanking shears”, which despite the name, are actually like scissors in design: they’re made for cutting metal blanks, as for coins. As with scissors, their default orientation is with the blades to chief; the illustration is taken from a woodcut by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, c.1500.
Agnes Cresewyke bears: Gules, three pairs of shears Or.
Carlos Blanco el Barbero bears: Per chevron azure and gules, a pair of scissors argent.
Ian Cnulle bears as a badge: Argent, a pair of open blanking shears, handles interlaced with a hammer fesswise reversed, all between three roundels sable.
Egg (Period)
An egg is a hard-shelled ovoid, laid by birds for the making of more birds. It is a rare but period charge, found in the arms of Jaworsky, 1605 [Siebmacher 75]. The egg used in Society heraldry is the hen’s egg, with one end narrowing; this end is to chief by Society default. See also cartouche, roundel.
Prudence the Curious bears: Vert, an egg argent and a chief embattled Or.
Eginolf von Basel bears: Per fess gules and bendy gules and azure, in chief an egg argent.
Magdalena Flores bears: Ermine, on an egg gules a fleur-de-lys Or.
Crozier (Period)
Archepiscopal staff (Period), shepherd’s crook (Period)
A crozier, or crosier, is a bishop’s staff, a highly ornamented depiction of a shepherd’s crook. It’s a period charge, frequently found in the arms of bishoprics, but not exclusively: e.g., the arms of di Spiciani, mid-15th C. [Triv 338]. The crozier is palewise by default, with its opening to dexter.
Similar to the crozier is the “archepiscopal staff”, with a cross formy at the end, found in the arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1514 [HCE xxx]. Finally, there’s the “crook” or “shepherd’s crook”, the simple herder’s staff on which the crozier was based, found in the canting arms of Crook, c.1285 [ANA2 308].
For related charges, see crook of Basel.
Nicholas Abbas de l’Eau Vivante bears: Argent, a crozier azure and a ford proper.
Thora Olafsdottir bears: Quarterly azure and vert, in saltire two shepherd’s crooks Or.
Wolfram von Nürnberg bears: Or, a wolf rampant azure maintaining an archepiscopal staff sable within an orle of wolf’s pawprints azure.