Search Results for: owl

Owl

Owl (Period)

The owl is a bird of prey, noted for its stealthy night-time activity. Classically, it was the archetype of wisdom; to medieval Christian moralists, it symbolized the Jews. It’s a period charge, dating from c.1295 in the arms of Seyvile [ANA2 205].

The owl is usually depicted with “ears”, tufts of feathers on either side of the head, to distinguish it from other birds. Its default posture is guardant close, as in the illustration; but even when in other postures such as rising, the owl is guardant unless specified otherwise.

James MacChluarain bears: Sable, an owl argent.

Flann Ua Cuill bears: Or, an owl gules.

Morwenna de Bonnay bears: Purpure, three owls Or.

Bowl

Bowl (Period)

A bowl is a rounded container or dish, shown in side-view or three-quarter view. In its simplest form, with a flat bottom (a form which may also be blazoned a “basin” or “bason”), it’s found in the arms of St. Albon, mid-16^th C. [Bedingfeld 58]. The illustration shows a slightly more ornate, footed form, as found in the canting arms (German Schüssel) of Raumschüssl, mid-16^th C. [NW 64].

The “Bowl of Hygeia” is a bowl or cup with a serpent entwined about it, or issuant from it; it is the modern symbol of pharmacists. At one point, it was only permitted to those with the proper medical credentials; but at this writing, its Society use is unrestricted.

A related charge is the “standing dish” or “platter”, found in the canting arms of Standysch, c.1460 [RH; see also Gwynn-Jones 95]. This was depicted essentially as a roundel with internal detailing, and even period heralds did not always distinguish between the two charges.

For related charges, see brazier, cup, lamp.

The Order of the Dragon’s Bowle, of Drachenwald, bears: A dragon passant coward sable charged with a bowl per pale Or and gules.

Elene Kirchenknopf bears: Per bend urdy argent and azure, a bowl and a sinister hand counterchanged.

Ambros Celidonis bears: Vert, in bend sinister a double-sail-backed salamander statant bendwise embowed argent, and a bowl fesswise Or flammant proper.

Wolf

Wolf rampant (Period)

The wolf is a predatory canine beast, whose medieval reputation was one of rapacity and strength. It was a common charge in medieval armory, called a “leu” or “loup” in early blazons, and found as early as c.1275 in the canting arms of Lou [ANA2 109]. The wolf does not seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows a wolf rampant.

A “wolf ululant” has its head raised, howling or baying. The term is unique to Society heraldry, and as a purely artistic detail worth no difference, is no longer used in blazon. For related charges, see dog, fox, hyena, werewolf.

The Prince of Oertha bears: Azure, a wolf sejant, head erect, in chief two compass stars and on a base argent a laurel wreath azure.

Conall Mac Earnáin bears: Argent, three wolves rampant sable.

Philip Dyemoke bears: Potent, a wolf rampant sable.

Vessels

Vessels are hollow containers for holding easily spilled contents. They come in a wide variety of shapes, depending on their intended purpose; they may be made of metal, wood, horn, ceramic or glass. If glass is intended, the charge should not be drawn as though transparent, through the use of voiding or chasing, but should be solidly tinctured.

For specific entries, see: amphora, apothecary jar, barrel, bottell, bottle, churn, cup, flask, horn (drinking), ink bottle, pitcher, pot, saltcellar, tankard, tub, urinal, vase. For related charges, see bowl, bucket, caldera gringolada, cupping-glass, frying pan, hourglass, mortar and pestle, water-bouget.

Spoon; Ladle

Spoon (Period)

Ladle (Period)

A spoon is an eating utensil, with a small shallow bowl attached to a handle. It is found in the canting arms of Sponeley, 15^th C. [Neubecker 136], as well as the arms of von Korkwitz, 1605 [Siebmacher 72]. The spoon is affronty by default, with the bowl to chief.

A similar charge is the “ladle”, with a deeper bowl and a long hooked handle, used for serving soup or other liquids. It too is a period charge, found in the canting arms (from dial. Italian cazùu, “ladle”) of de Cazullis de Crema, mid-15^th C. [Triv 98], and of de Cazaviis, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 270:283]. The ladle is palewise, handle to chief, by Society default.

Unique to the Society is the “spurtle”, of which we have a single registration. The blazon is misleading: a spurtle is a Scots cooking tool for turning oatcakes, dated in the OED to the 16^th Century, which is not the charge used in the Society. That charge is drawn as a notched spoon, resembling the utensil modernly called a “spork”. Given the discrepancy of the terminology, and the modern nature of the artifact, it is unlikely to be currently registerable without documentation.

Smoking pipe

Smoking pipe (Accepted); hookah (probable SFPP)

A smoking pipe is a tube with a bowl at one end, for smoking tobacco or other weeds. In Society heraldry, the standard smoking pipe is long-stemmed, made of clay; this form of pipe was manufactured in England as early as 1586 [EB XXI:633], but no examples are known of its use in period armory. (In Society armory, the same form has also been blazoned a “Saracen’s smoking pipe” or a “clay pipe”.) The smoking pipe is fesswise, bowl to dexter, by Society default

There’s also the “hookah” or “Turkish water-pipe”, where the fumes are filtered through water or wine. It has not been shown to be period, but it was used in Persia in the 17^th Century (though not for tobacco).

Lewis MacGregor bears: Gules, a hookah Or, on a chief wavy argent a winged cat couchant guardant proper.

Dulcinea de Yerba Buena bears: Per fess indented argent goutty purpure, and vert, overall two short-stemmed Saracen smoking pipes in saltire argent.

Morric Haast bears: Sable, a saltire Or between in pale an hourglass fesswise and a clay pipe fesswise and in fess two dragon’s heads erased argent.

Roundel

Roundel (Period)

A roundel is an ancient heraldic charge, consisting of a simple circular shape. Its use dates from the earliest heraldic records: bezants are found in the canting arms of Biset, c.1244 [Asp2 222].

Roundels of different tinctures have special names in blazon: A roundel Or may be termed a “bezant”; a roundel argent, a “plate”; gules, a “torteau”; vert, a “pomme”; sable, a “gunstone”, “pellet”, or “ogress”; azure, a “hurt”; purpure, a “golpe”. The use of these special names is discretionary. Note that only “bezant”, “plate”, “torteau” and “pellet” have been found in period blazons.

Also included in the roundel family is the “fountain“, a roundel barry wavy azure and argent. A Society-specific variant is the “t’ai-ch’i”, a roundel per fess embowed-counterembowed argent and sable, charged with two counterchanged roundels. As a non-European artistic motif, the t’ai-ch’i is not currently registerable; those already registered are deemed a step from period practice.

T’ai-ch’i (Disallowed)

Roundel echancré (Disallowed)

Roundels with complex edges (e.g., the “roundel echancré”, with three semi-circular notches; the “roundel embattled”; &c) have been registered in the past; but their use has been disallowed, pending evidence of period use.

The roundel is considered a shape upon which arms may be borne; thus, like the lozenge and escutcheon, when used as a fieldless badge it must not itself be charged. See also astrolabe, bowl (dish), egg, labyrinth, moon, shield, sphere, yarn.

The Exchequer bears: Azure, a pale checky gules and argent between six bezants in pale three and three.

Alewijn van Zeebrouck bears: Sable, three roundels argent.

Nigel the Byzantine bears: Purpure bezanty and a bordure Or.

Duncan of Blackrock bears: Per fess and per bend sinister argent and vert, two pellets in bend.

Marius del Raut bears: Per chevron ermine and sable, three roundels counterchanged.

Ynir Cadwallen bears: Azure, a roundel echancré and in base a bar Or.

Morgan ap Llewellan Peregrine bears: Sable, a t’ai-ch’i, the line of division forming a hawk’s head erect, voided, orbed argent.

Rock; Stone

Rock (Period)

A rock is an irregular mass of stone; it is also called a “stone”, though that usually implies a smaller mass. When used as an independent charge, the rock is drawn lumpishly to distinguish it from a roundel. Rocks are found in the canting arms of Pedrosa, c.1540 [Nobreza xvi]. When issuant from base, a rock becomes essentially a rocky mount.

A specific type of rock is the “flint”, used for striking sparks against a furison to start fires. It was used as one of the badges of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 1430 [Friar 170; Volborth 216]. The flint is depicted as a rock with spurts of flame issuant from the sides, sometimes radiating across the field.

Millstone (Period)

Period armory gives us the “millstone”: a large circular stone, turned by water power, used for grinding grain. It forms the base of the mill; it’s rendered essentially as a diapered roundel, frequently charged with a millrind. The millstone is a period charge, found in the arms of Spiser, c.1340 [Zurich 253].

Rocks come in many materials – basalt, marble, sandstone – so, strictly speaking, they have no “proper” coloration. Nonetheless, there are a few instances of “rock proper” or “stone proper” in Society blazonry; these assume the rock is grey granite, and are treated as if they were argent.

See also dolmen (menhir), grindstone.

Hallmundr Grimsson bears: Barry wavy azure and argent, a stone sable.

Piers Howells de Cambria bears: Azure, an owl reguardant Or perched atop a rock issuant from base argent.

Juliana Neuneker Hirsch von Schutzhundheim bears: Sable, a flint between four furisons in saltire, steels to center Or.

Polyhedron

Icosahedron (SFPP)

A polyhedron is a geometric solid figure with polygonal faces. While there are some heraldic charges which might be described in this way – e.g., the die – the term here refers specifically to abstract geometric shapes, not otherwise defined, and which don’t appear to represent actual medieval objects. No examples of abstract polyhedra have been adduced in period armory; their use in Society armory is justified by the Renaissance knowledge of the Platonic solids, and the registrations to date have been drawn as such. The use of a polyhedron is deemed a step from period practice.

The illustration shows an icosahedron, or twenty-sided Platonic solid. For related charges, see polygon. See also jewelry.

Alasdair O Cuinn bears: Per chevron Or and vert, two dragons combattant and an icosahedron counterchanged.

Pantheon

Pantheon rampant (Period)

The pantheon is an heraldic monster with the body of a hind, the bushy tail of a fox, cloven hooves, and completely strewn with mullets or estoiles. It’s a period charge, dating from 1531 as the crest of Baynham [Dennys 159]. One period manuscript gives its “proper” tinctures as gules, with argent stars; but no proper tinctures are acknowledged for the pantheon in Society heraldry.

In terms of heraldic design, the Society treats the pantheon’s mullets or estoiles as an integral part of the monster, not as a layer of surcharges on the pantheon’s body.

The pantheon does not seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows a pantheon rampant.

Jessica of the Old Forest bears: Argent, two pantheons combatant azure, mullety argent.

Erlwin Nikolaus vom Schwarzwald bears: Per saltire pean and Or, a pantheon rampant gules, mullety of six points Or.

Katerina von Brandenberg bears: Per pale purpure and argent, two pantheons combatant mullety of six points all counterchanged.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings