Tankard (Period)

A tankard is a drinking vessel, roughly cylindrical in shape, with a handle.  It may also be called a “stein” or a “mug”.  It is considered baser than a cup, more suited for ale than for wine.  The tankard appears to be a period charge, seen in the arms of Juncker, early 16^th C. [BSB Cod.Icon 392d:612].

The tankard is frequently shown with a flat lid pivoted on the rim, which can be flipped open with the thumb; this form may be blazoned a “covered tankard”.  While covered tankards are found as period artifacts (e.g., as used on the Mary Rose, c.1545 [Rule 201]), we have no examples of their use in period armory.

Jack (Accepted)

A similar charge in the Society, the “jack”, is noted for being made of leather, rather than metal or stoneware.  Its shape is more conical due to its material, but the jack is an artistic variant only; it carries no heraldic difference from the tankard.

All forms of tankard have their handles to sinister by Society default.  For related charges, see pitcher.

Daniel de Tankard bears:  Gules, a tankard of beer Or headed argent.

Morgan Conner bears:  Per pale sable and Or, two tankards, handles in the flanks, counterchanged.

Tadhg MacAodháin uí Chonchobhair bears as a badge:  On a jack reversed sable a harp between three compass stars one and two Or.

 

Square weaver’s tablet (Accepted)

A weaver’s tablet is a small card with holes, used to separate warp threads in a hand loom.  The Society’s default form is more fully blazoned a “square weaver’s tablet”, with four holes arranged two and two.  The artifact is ancient, with archaeological finds dating from at least the 9^th Century [Peter Collingwood, The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, 1982, pp.14-16]; but it doesn’t appear to have been used in period armory.  For related charges, see delf, die.

Thora Sharptooth bears:  Gules, three square weaver’s tablets in bend Or.

Ciorstan MacAmhlaidh bears:  Quarterly sable and argent, a square weaver’s tablet lozengewise counterchanged.

Astrid Olafsdotter bears:  Vert, in cross four square weaver’s tablets bendwise argent.

Table-trestle (Period)

Table-trestle (Period)

A table-trestle is a braced support for the top of a table.  Two such trestles might be affixed to the ends of a horizontal beam for stability.  Several trestles might also be used to fashion a larger table for occasional use, such as banquets; the table was not a permanent furnishing in such a case.

The table-trestle is a period charge, found in two slightly different forms.  The form found in the arms of Awersberg or Auersberg, 1605 [Siebmacher 33] is a basic A-frame.  Often, the table-trestle’s woodwork was decoratively carved:  the illustration is taken from an example in the Luttrell Psalter, c.1340.

Another form of table-trestle, with three legs visible rather than two, is found in the arms of Stratford, 1480 [DBA3 442; also cf. Guillim1 213].  No difference is granted between the two forms.  Both forms are shown in profile by default.

Katherina Mornewegh bears:  Gules, a table-trestle Or.

Rodrigo de Burgos bears:  Gules, a table-trestle argent.

Table (with trestles) (Period)

A table is a piece of furniture, consisting of a large flat surface supported at waist-height by legs or trestles.  The style does not seem to have been blazoned, in period or in the Society.

Trestle tables seem to be more commonly found in medieval armory.  A typical depiction would show the trestle in profile, as in the arms of Marschalgk von Ostheim, 1605 [Siebmacher 101].  But we also have period examples of the trestle table in trian view, in the arms of Faltzner, c.1600 [BSB Cod.Icon 307:547].  The illustration is based on Faltzner.

Table (with legs) (Period)

Tables with four straight legs are less commonly found, at least in heraldry, but we do have one example:  the arms of von Stüllingenn, early 16^th C. [BSB Cod.Icon 392d:532].  This form of table should be drawn so that the legs may be distinguished, to aid in identification.

The Minister of the Lists of Atlantia bears:  Per pale argent and azure, a table sable between three quill pens one and two bendwise sinister counterchanged.

Dananir al-Attarah bears as a badge:  Atop a table sable a goblet gules.

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.

See also fork, strainer.

The Shire of Canale bears:  Sable, a ladle reversed and on a gore dexter Or a laurel wreath sable.

The Madrone Culinary Guild bears:  Gules, in fess a spurtle, a dagger, and a spoon palewise Or.

Máirgrég ingen mic Gillebrath bears:  Lozengy sable and Or, a spoon gules.

Spool of thread (Accepted)

A spool of thread is a flanged cylinder on which thread or yarn is stored.  The type documented for Society armory is a spinner’s bobbin for plied thread; it was taken from the painting “Soffitto della Sala di Penelope” by Giovanni Stradano, c.1560 [Landini & Niccoli, Moda a Firenze 1540-1580, 2005, p.21].  This form of bobbin has not been found in period armory, but it serves the same basic function as the quill of yarn.

For related charges, see drop-spindle, lace bobbin.  See also shuttle (weaver’s).

Ekaterina Vladimirovna bears:  Or, a domestic cat sejant affronty head to dexter gules gorged with a pearled coronet argent and on a chief urdy azure three spools of thread Or.

Chrestienne Chabrier bears:  Azure, a dragon’s head erased Or and on a chief invected argent, three spools of thread vert.

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.