Archives

Shave, currier’s

Currier's shave (Period)

Currier’s shave (Period)

A currier’s shave is a long single-edged knife with a handle on either end, used to scrape the hair and fat off a cow’s hide before tanning.  It may also be termed a “tanner’s shave” or a “currier’s knife”.  The illustration is taken from the arms of the Worshipful Company of Curriers, 1583 [Bromley & Child 62].  The shave is fesswise, edge to base, by default.  For related charges, see drawknife.  See also tools.

Jeremea Gerber bears:  Vair, on a fess azure a two-handled currier’s knife argent.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .

Scythe

Scythe (Period)

Scythe (Period)

A scythe is an agricultural tool with a curved single-edged blade on a long bent handle; it is used to cut long grass, grain, &c.  It’s a period charge, used in the arms of Prers c.1295 [ANA2 548].  The scythe has its blade to chief by default.

The scythe blade alone is also found as a charge, as in the arms of Neynlinger, c.1450 [Ingeram 25]; indeed, the blade would appear to be a more common charge in period than the full scythe.  For related charges, see pruning hook, sickle.  See also pole-arm (war-scythe).

Alric of Couentreu bears:  Sable, a scythe Or.

John Morgan of Caerleon bears:  Per pale sable and purpure, in saltire two scythes argent.

This entry was posted on June 2, 2014, in .

Saw

Frame saw (Period)

Frame saw (Period)

Goldsmith's framesaw (Period)

Goldsmith’s framesaw (Period)

A saw is a carpenter’s tool, used mostly for cutting wood; it has a large thin blade with a toothed edge.  The most common form of heraldic saw is more fully termed a “frame saw” or a “bow saw”.  The artifact dates from at least the 12th Century [Singer 392], but the earliest heraldic example dates from c.1550, in the canting arms (Italian sega) of Seghi [BSB Cod.Icon 278:333].  The frame saw is fesswise, cutting edge to base, by default [Parker 520].

Other saws found in Society armory were first taken from period artifacts; in many cases, they’ve since been documented as charges.  For example, the saw blazoned in the Society as a “goldsmith’s framesaw” has the shape of a modern coping saw; however, much the same form is found in period armory, in the arms of Malkas or Malckab, c.1450 [Ingeram 172].  It doesn’t seem to have a default orientation, but when fesswise, the handle is to sinister; when palewise, the handle is to base.  The illustration shows a goldsmith’s framesaw fesswise.

Two-man cross-cut saw (Period)

Two-man cross-cut saw (Period)

Handsaw (Accepted)

Handsaw (Accepted)

Likewise, the “two-man cross-cut saw”, a much larger tool used for large timbers, was originally documented from Jost Amman’s Book of Trades, 1568 [95].  It was then discovered in period armory as well, in the arms of Mistelbeckten, c.1560 [BSB Cod.Icon 390:749].  This form of saw is fesswise by default.

We also have the “handsaw”, simply a serrated blade with a handgrip.  This form, though not yet found in period armory, is found in the Bedford Book of Hours, early-15th C. [Singer plate 30]; it has been accepted for Society use.  It has the same default, or lack thereof, as the goldsmith’s framesaw; the illustration shows a handsaw palewise.

Stephen Treebane bears:  Argent, a frame saw palewise azure.

Giles of Gamph bears:  Per chevron azure and Or, an oak tree eradicated between two bearded axes and a frame saw fesswise, all counterchanged.

Konrad Lockner of Idelberg bears:  Counter-ermine, a scarpe gules, overall a wyvern displayed argent maintaining in the dexter claw a bow saw and in the sinister claw a mallet proper.

Tancred of Tangewood bears:  Argent, in pale a two-man cross-cut saw and two hammers in saltire sable all within a bordure sable semy of maple leaves argent.

Pearce Redsmythe bears:  Purpure semy of rivets Or, a goldsmith’s framesaw bendwise argent, on a chief Or three Bowen crosses sable.

Tomas y Saer bears:  Per pale gules and sable, in saltire a Lochaber axe and a handsaw both argent hafted Or, within an orle Or.

 

This entry was posted on June 2, 2014, in .

Rivet

Rivet (Disallowed)

Rivet (Disallowed)

A rivet is a metal bolt or pin, with a head shaped like a mushroom’s cap; it’s used to fasten together plates of hard material, and thus is familiar to armorers. It is shown in its “pre-flattened” state, with the head to chief by default, as in the illustration. Though the term itself is period, we’ve no explicit documentation of the form registered in the Society; certainly the rivet is not to be found in mundane heraldry. Pending documentation of this form, the rivet will not be accepted as a Society charge.

For related charges, see nail.  See also punch.

William the Frogge bears:  Per chevron purpure and argent, three rivets Or and a frog sejant affronty vert.

This entry was posted on June 2, 2014, in .

Rake

Rake (Period)

Rake (Period)

A rake is an agricultural tool with prongs or teeth set transversely at the end of a long handle; it’s used for gathering leaves, grass, hay, &c from the ground.  It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (German Rechen) of Rechenberg as early as c.1370 [Gelre 34v].  The rake is palewise, handle to base by default.

Iliya Volkov bears as a badge:  A rake argent.

This entry was posted on June 2, 2014, in .

Punner

Punner (Period)

Punner (Period)

A punner is a type of pile-driver, used to tamp and harden the dirt (e.g., around a fence post); the term is the English translation of Rammbock, the German name for the charge.  It’s a period charge, found in the arms of von Auffhaim or von Aufheim, c.1450 [Scheibler 297], and of von Lintzer, mid-16th C. [NW 32].  The punner is palewise by default.

Cormac Mór bears as a badge:  A punner Or.

Violet Hughes bears:  Purpure, a punner argent.

This entry was posted on May 27, 2014, in .

Punch

Punch (Accepted)

Punch (Accepted)

A punch is a coiner’s tool, consisting of a solid slug of steel with a flattened end for hammering.  It’s used to either shape the coin into a more circular form, or as a die to stamp the design in relief on its surface.  It’s a period artifact, dating to at least 1568 [Amman 39], but no examples have been found in heraldry.  See also rivet.

The Moneyers Guild of An Tir bears:  Argent, a goat clymant maintaining in its dexter forehoof a hammer and in its sinister a punch sable within a bordure sable bezanty.

This entry was posted on May 27, 2014, in .

Pruning hook

Pruning hook (Period)

Pruning hook (Period)

Pruning knife (Period)

Pruning knife (Period)

A pruning hook is an agricultural tool for trimming plants, consisting of a sickle’s blade on a long handle.  It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Hegner, 1548 [Vigil Raber’s Armorial of the Arlberg Brotherhood of St. Christopher, fo.401]; Parker, p.540, also cites its use in the arms of Cutcliffe, 1586, but in that case the term may have been simply another name for the sickle.

A related charge, the “pruning knife” (French serpette), has a billhook-like blade; it’s found in the arms of von Görlitz, 1605 [Siebmacher 62].  For related charges, see scythe.

The College of Saint John of Rila bears as a badge:  Two pruning knives in saltire argent.

Fedora de Mara bears as a badge:  On a bezant invected a pruning hook inverted bendwise sinister sable, surmounted by a peony gules, seeded Or.

This entry was posted on May 27, 2014, in .

Printer’s ball

Printer's ball (Accepted)

Printer’s ball (Accepted)

A printer’s ball is a tool for applying ink to the plate of a printing press.   It is a period artifact, dating to at least 1568 [Amman 27], but the earliest example we have of its armorial use is 1657 [Volborth 189].  The printer’s ball has its handle to chief by Society default.

Bertram of Bearington bears:  Gules, a printer’s ball argent inked sable.

Leonhard Schuwert bears:  Per chevron azure and Or, two printer’s balls in saltire azure inked sable each sustained by a hand azure.

Fredeburg von Katzenellenbogen bears as a badge:  A printer’s ball Or.

This entry was posted on May 27, 2014, in .

Plough

Plough (Period)

Plough (Period)

A plough, or plow, is a farming tool, used to till furrows into the earth.  It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Smeton, c.1460 [RH].  The plow is fesswise, handles to sinister by default.

The illustration is taken from Bossewell, 1572 [II.124].

Alan the Strong bears:  Or, a plow vert and on a chief embattled sable three garbs Or.

Beatrix of Thanet bears:  Per fess enarched azure and vert, three garbs and a plough Or.

Johannes von Narrenstein bears as a badge:  A quill pen argent, tip surmounted by a wooden plow proper.

This entry was posted on May 23, 2014, in .