Sewing needle threaded (Period)

Double-pointed knitting needle palewise (Accepted)

A needle is a slender sliver of metal or bone, sharpened at the end and used for manipulating thread.  In Society armory, the default needle is the “sewing needle” (often so blazoned):  a metal needle with a hole in one end for thread, used for hand sewing.  It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (from dial. Italian gugela) of de Agugellis, mid-15^th C. [Triv 41].  Sewing needles are sometimes found threaded; their points are to base by Society default.

There is also the “knitting needle”, which should be double-pointed; one of the earliest representations of knitting, the Buxtehude altarpiece c.1395 [Richard Rutt, A History of Hand Knitting, p.49], shows needles in this form.  Although a period artifact, the knitting needle is unattested in medieval armory.  It doesn’t seem to have a default orientation in Society blazonry; the illustration shows a double-pointed knitting needle palewise.

The Shire of Mendersham bears:  Azure semy of needles argent, a laurel wreath Or.

Eibhlín an Fraoich bears:  Per chevron azure and argent, a sewing needle azure.

Zeresh la Tricoteuse bears:  Per bend azure and sable, a unicorn’s head couped argent, armed and crined, and two double-pointed knitting needles in saltire Or.

Hand mirror (Period)

A mirror is a polished pane of metal or glass, set in a frame, and used to look at oneself.  The standard heraldic form is more fully termed a “hand mirror”:  shown in later period with a handle attached to the frame, as in the arms of Sybell, 1531 [Gwynn-Jones 69], but earlier as a simple circular framed mirror, as in the canting arms (German Spiegel) of Spiegel c.1370 [Gelre 29v].  In either of these forms, the mirror is the traditional accoutrement of the mermaid.

Period armory also has examples of “wall mirrors”, mounted in large rectangular frames, as in the arms of von Steuben or Stuben c.1450 [Ingeram 136, also Siebmacher 117].

The Order of the Mermaids Pearl of Trimaris bears:  Argent, a handmirror azure silvered argent.

Branwen MacRae bears:  Argent, a handmirror bendwise sinister sable, issuant from the glass tongues of flame proper.

Ailís inghean Mhuirgein bears:  Vert, on a mirror argent glassed vert, an oak leaf argent.

Loom weight (Accepted)

A loom weight is part of a vertical warp-weighted loom: the warp threads are tied to loom weights to maintain tension during weaving.  The weights were most often of clay or terra cotta, standardized in size.  Though period artifacts, loom weights as such are not found in medieval heraldry.  The illustration is based on artifacts found in Suffolk, dating from the 7^th Century [Marta Hoffman, The Warp-Weighted Loom, 1964, p.313].  Note that, in Society armory, the loom weight should be drawn with a bit of yarn attached:  without the yarn, it may be unidentifiable as a loom weight.  See also annulet.

Barbara atte Dragon bears as a badge:  A loom weight pendant from a hank of yarn argent.

Lantern (Accepted)

A lantern is an enclosed source of light.  The mundane heraldic lantern (which does not date to period) is a ship’s lantern, spherical and with swivels to keep the inner lamp upright [Bromley & Child 241].  The Society’s default lantern might be more fully termed a “hanging lantern”:  an enclosed cylinder or box, often with a handle, containing a candle, which it protects from the elements.  If the candle is visible, it’s usually shown lit, whether blazoned so or not.

In early Society heraldry, the lantern was drawn in the form used at the camping events of that time:  with large glass panes mounted in a thin frame.  This modern form of lantern is no longer registerable, pending period documentation.  The more period lantern used panes of horn or oiled parchment; the illustration is taken from a mural painting of the Chapel Notre-Dame des Fontaine, La Brigue, late 15th C.  The lantern’s panes may sometimes be explicitly tinctured in the blazon, though no difference is granted for it.

For related charges, see lamp.  See also torch.

Arthur of Lockhaven bears:  Azure, a lantern Or.

Thomas Ouswood bears:  Vert, a lantern argent enflamed Or.

Saher Faux bears:  Or, a staff bendwise, dependent from its dexter end a lantern, all within a bordure indented sable.

Lamp, lit (Period)

A lamp is a source of light, consisting of a container of oil with an emerging wick.  The earliest form, dating from at least Roman times, was simply a shallow bowl bearing a wick; the most usual medieval form had a conical base, which could be held in the hand or mounted on a fixture.  This is the default heraldic form of lamp, found in period armory in the arms of Wetewang, c.1410 [TJ 1555; see also Bedingfeld 90].

Arabian lamp, lit (Accepted)

However, the most commonly found lamp in Society armory is the “Arabian lamp”, with a handle at one end and the wick in a spout at the other; it’s also been blazoned a “Greek lamp”, though the shape is unchanged.  It’s frequently drawn as the “Aladdin’s lamp” of modern imagery; we’ve no period examples of lamps in that form, neither as a charge nor as an artifact.  However, a basic boat-shaped form of lamp was used in period, as terra cotta artifacts:  the illustration is based on an 11^th C. terra cotta lamp found in Sicily.  Based on that example, the Arabian lamp is still permitted for Society use as of this writing.  The Arabian lamp has its handle to sinister by default.

Hanging oil lamp, lit (Accepted)

Society armory also has the “hanging oil lamp”, with a shallow flat bowl of oil fastened to a vertical handle:  the handle can be hung from a hook over a drawing table.  Like the Arabian lamp, it isn’t found in period armory; however, the hanging oil lamp is a period artifact, as seen in the Opera of Bartoloneo Scappi, 1570, on which the illustration is based [Peter Thornton, The Italian Renaissance Interior, 1400-1600, plate 347; cf. also plates 23, 294].  Unlike the Arabian lamp, the hanging oil lamp doesn’t have a default orientation; it is left as an unblazoned detail.  (There’s also one instance in Society armory blazoned simply an “oil lamp”, with no handles; it’s the exception.)

Any form of lamp, if blazoned “flammant” or “enflamed”, is shown with the wick lit.  “Lit”, of course, works as well.  The lamps in the illustrations are all lit.

For related charges, see candle, lantern, torch.  See also pitcher.

The Royal University of Ithra bears:  Gules, on a sun Or eclipsed gules, an Arabian lamp flammant Or.

The Order of the Golden Beacon, of the Barony of Ynys Fawr, bears:  Per bend sinister azure and Or, a lamp argent enflamed Or.

Tiffanie du Claire bears:  Purpure, a [square] oil lamp enflamed between three stars of David one and two Or.

Arthur Lemner of Wesley bears:  Azure, in pale a drawing compass and a two-spouted oil lamp argent, enflamed Or.

Brigid Duncan bears:  Per bend vert and gules, a bend between a hanging oil lamp argent lit Or and a boar sejant Or.