Vêtu

Vêtu (Period)

Vêtu ployé (Accepted)

Vêtu (French for “vested”) is a Continental partition of the field, formed by two lines from center chief and two lines from the base point, connecting at the sides of the shield. The partition thus strongly resembles a lozenge throughout; and it will conflict with a lozenge, all other things being the same. But the vêtu field differs from a lozenge in one respect: In normal usage, only the central part of the field is charged; the vested portions of the field remain uncharged. (Despite this, there are still a number of vêtu fields in Society heraldry with charges in the corner portions.)

The standard vêtu field uses straight lines; there is also a variant, “vêtu ployé”, with arched lines. For related entries, see chapé, chaussé.

Cealmhain Realt Dubh bears as a badge: Argent vêtu ployé sable.

Damon Kirby bears: Argent vêtu gules, four lozenges in cross gules.

Kareina Talventytär bears: Azure vêtu, a long-haired domestic cat dormant argent.

Vair

Vair, ancient (Period)

Vair, later period (Period)

Vair is one of the principal furs in heraldry, consisting of a series of panes, alternately white and blue, completely tiling the field. It was originally meant to represent squirrel-skins, sewn together with the back-fur and belly-fur alternating. There are several varieties of vair, all of which are considered mere artistic variations of one another.

The earliest depiction of vair, dating from the Matthew Paris shields c.1244, had rounded edges. Originally, the peaks didn’t touch the straight edges of the rows; by c.1400, the peaks might extend to the rows’ edges. These depictions are sometimes termed “vair ancient” in modern heraldry texts; the stylization is not blazoned in Society armory, being left to the artist. By the end of period, a more angular form of vair was used, tessellated with vair-bells; this form is the modern standard depiction. Period heraldic tracts also gave names to different patterns of arranging the panes: e.g., “counter-vair”, with the panes set base-to-base, and not alternating colors; and “vair en pointe”, with the panes staggered. There are other forms as well, some of which came to be used in post-period armory.

Potent (Period)

One style of depicting vair came to be called “potent”, because the panes resembled potents or crutches. Again, no difference is counted between vair and potent.

Vair furs may use other tinctures besides white and blue. Such cases must be explicitly blazoned: e.g., “Vairy Or and gules”, the canting arms of Ferrers, c.1244 [Asp2 222]. See also papellony, plumetty.

Kat’ryna Neblaga Volchkova bears: Vair, flaunches gules.

Gauvain Eisenbein bears: Vairy en point erminois and azure, a bordure gules.

Steven MacEanruig bears: Potent, on a pile sable a cross crosslet argent.

Scaly

Scaly (Period)

Scaly is a field treatment, consisting of many semi-circles or lunes, covering the field. The term is the Society’s translation of the French term écaillée; it is equivalent to the most common depiction of the papellony field [Woodward 726]. The treatment is found in the arms of von Tettenbach, 1605 [Siebmacher 85].

Yrjo Kirjawiisas bears as a badge: Sable scaly Or.

Uthyr Peregrine bears: Per bend nebuly azure, and argent scaly sable.

Antonius Hasebroek bears: Gules scaly Or.

Plumetty

Plumetty (Period)

Plumetty is a fur, evidently a variant of the vair furs; it is made up of panes resembling feathers. Visually, it’s similar to a lozengy field, and its tinctures are blazoned the same way. Plumetty is a period field, found in the arms of Mydlam, c.1460 [RH].

The interior details of the feathers are diapering, and are considered artistic license. When no internal details are shown, plumetty becomes very close to a form of papellony. See also field treatment.

Duncan Brock of Greyfeather bears: Plumetty argent and sable, on a fess purpure a brock statant argent.

Damian Papyngeye bears: Plumetty argent and vert, a popinjay purpure.

Papellony

Papellony (field treatment) (Period)

Papellony (fur) (Accepted)

The term “papellony” may refer to either a fur or a field treatment, as they are known in the Society. When blazoned, e.g., “argent papellony sable” (as in the first illustration), it’s a field treatment equivalent to scaly; this is the older usage, found in the arms of Sansuerre or Sancerre, c.1254 [Brault2 27; also see de Bara 55]. When blazoned “papellony argent and sable” (as in the second illustration), it’s a derivative of the vair furs, similar in appearance to plumetty [Woodward 72]. Because of the ambiguity in the term, it is best not used if an alternative term will work as well.

Egil Bloodax bears: Papellony argent and azure, a double-bitted axe gules.

Runolfr Audsson bears: Per chevron sable and gules, papellony argent, in chief a wolf courant to sinister argent.

Masoning

Masoning (Period)

Masoning is a field treatment whose lines resemble the mortaring in a brick wall, as seen in the arms of von Wirsberg, 1605 [Siebmacher 104]. In Society armory, its most significant use is upon a field (as in the illustration), but it may also be applied to charges. Stone edifices (e.g., castles) are often blazoned “masoned”, but in such cases the treatment is considered artistic license: a stonework charge may be drawn masoned whether the blazon says so or no.

The Calontir War College bears: Purpure masoned Or.

The Shire of Perilous Journey bears: Argent masoned gules, a laurel wreath vert within a bordure gules.

Cuilén Ó Cinnéide bears: Per bend sinister indented argent and gules masoned argent.

Maily

Mailly field (Disallowed)

Maily, or mailed, is a field treatment unique to the Society. The field is semy of annulets interlaced, to form the appearance of mail armor. The treatment has been disallowed, as incompatible with period armorial design.

Charles d’Arnaud bears: Gules mailed Or.

Edmund Godric Scrymgeour bears: Quarterly azure and argent all mailly counterchanged.

Honeycombed

Honeycombed (Disallowed)

Honeycombing is a field treatment unique to Society heraldry: an hexagonal pattern similar to masoning, intended to represent the interior structure of a beehive. As honeycombed fields follow no known period exemplar, they are no longer registerable in the Society.

Marcus the Vintner bears: Sable honeycombed Or, on a fess argent three golpes.

Field treatment

A field treatment is a regular pattern, done in a contrasting tincture on a field, and considered part of the tincture. Unlike diapering, which is an artistic flourish, a field treatment adds heraldic difference. Treatments may also be applied to the tincture of a charge.

At one time, Society heraldry recognized several field treatments; many of these, as a result of later research, are no longer permitted. For specific entries, see honeycombed, maily, masoning, papellony, scaly. For related items, see fretty, grillage, plumetty, semy.

Ermine spot

Five ermine spots (Period)

An ermine spot, or ermine tail, is a highly stylized charge, meant to represent the tail of the ermine beast; it is also sometimes blazoned a “muskatour”. Ermine spots were sometimes charges in their own right, as in the arms of Liesvelt, c.1460 [GATD 34v; also Gelre 83v]; but they are far more often found strewn across a field to form the heraldic ermine-style furs.

Of these furs, by far the most common was simply blazoned “ermine”: a white field with black ermine spots, most famous as the arms of the Dukes of Brittany, 1318 [Asp2 172]. For most of the Society’s period, this was the only ermine-style fur in use. In the 15^th Century, a variant was introduced, a black field with white ermine spots [Hope 8]: it was called “ermines” in English and “contre-hermine” in French. To avert typos, Society blazons use the translation of the latter, “counter-ermine”.

Towards the end of period, two other ermine-style furs appeared in heraldic tracts [e.g., Legh 76]: “erminois”, a gold field with black ermine spots, and “pean”, a black field with gold ermine spots. Your Author has found a single period example of erminois, in the arms of Meery, c.1510 [DBA3 489; also Gwynn-Jones 98]; we’ve yet to find a period example of pean. However, on the basis of Legh if nothing else, all four of these furs are available for Society use.

Post-period examples exist of fields strewn with ermine spots, in other tinctures, e.g., “Gules semy of ermine spots Or” [Woodward 68]. Society practice would blazon this “Gules ermined Or”, and treat it as an ermine-style fur. Any metal field may be ermined in a color, and vice versa, in Society heraldry. We have a single example in an heraldic tract, the Traité de blason, late-15th C., of “Or ermined vert” (le champ dor armine de sinople), but no actual examples of its use in arms; nonetheless, this provides support for the practice in the Society.

The illustration shows several stylizations of ermine spot, which were taken from medieval emblazons. The one in dexter chief, from Legh, is the form most often found in Society emblazons. Naturally, an emblazon shouldn’t mix styles, but should use one stylization throughout. See also tail.

Adeliza de Clermont bears: Or, an ermine spot purpure.

Wilhelm Leopard der Schwarze bears: Sable, in chief five ermine spots in fess Or.

Alisaundre Caledon bears: Per chevron Or and sable, three ermine spots counterchanged.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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