Helmets,
sometimes, on early seals and carvings, are valuable as indications of date and examples of the types then prevalent; but, in other and later instances, they seem to be fancifully treated, and so would not be reliable. They form too large a subject for discussion here, and one that has been most ably and exhaustively treated in works on Armour.
I now proceed to consider the [shapes as sketched], taking the several numbers by the groups into which they naturally fall. Many more instances might have been quoted for the various shapes, but I have selected these to show, so far as I have been able to gather them, the extreme range of dates.
Perhaps I may venture here to remark that the search for ancient shapes of shields, with a view to their slavish reproduction, which is now so usual, does not seem to have been so prevalent before about the year 1840. This is the date which seems generally accepted as that when originality in the matter of seals and book-plates ceased, and every variety of old examples began to be sedulously searched out and copied.
All of these shields are subject to slight variations of outline, according to the fancy of the artist and their necessary adaptation to their surroundings.
No. 8 in the accompanying plate of shapes appears in stained glass to the memory of Sir Wm. Berdwell (will, dated 1434), Blomefield's Norfolk, vol. i, p. 203.
An Irish instance, but of very ungraceful proportions, date 1507, is engraved Archæological Journal, vol. xv, p. 188.
It also occurs in the mantelpiece at Helmdon, Northants, 1533; described in Archæologia, vol. xiii, plate 12.
Nos. 9, 10, 11, and 12 all occur on the beautiful monument to Abbot Thomas Ramrage, in St. Alban's Cathedral,—of the date 1529; Boutell's Heraldry, p. 357. Engravings of which may also be frequently found elsewhere.
No. 10 occurs in a small signet seal, two impressions of which are attached as a counterseal to a lease by the Priory of Dartford, co. Kent, bearing date 24th December, 1529. This sealing on the back rendered it impossible to detach the large wax seal and apply it fraudulently to another document. This is engraved Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 27th May, 1875.
Occurs also in a brass, Okeover impaling Aston, date 1520 (Boutell's Brasses, p. 127), see No. 75.
Also in another brass, at Sprouston, Norfolk, dated 1559.
No. 11 occurs without the bouche on a chimney-piece at the Episcopal Palace, Exeter, 1486.
With the bouche, in the Ramrage Chantry, St. Alban's Abbey, of about the same date (Boutell's Heraldry, p. 98).
Also in heraldic drawings of 1536, in Willement's Regal Heraldry.
No. 12, but without the bouche, occurs in Henry VII.'s chapel (Archæologia, vol. xvi, p. 194).
The annexed engraving shows a most interesting knightly shield of the Schutz family, of Shotover, co. Oxford, dating from the fifteenth century. It is 2 feet 8 inches long by 1 foot 1½ inches broad, and was, when Mr. Hewitt wrote his book, in the possession of the Rev. J. Wilson, President of Trinity College, Oxford. It is engraved and described, Ancient Arms and Armour, vol. ii, p. 496.
It will be remembered that John of Gaunt's shield, described at p. 29, very closely resembles No. 12.
Nos. 13, 14, and 15.
No. 13 is shown in the seal of the Free School of Richmond, Yorkshire, founded 1535-6 (Gale's Registrum Honoris de Richmond, p. 254).
In an old engraving, showing Henry VIII. and his Parliament, in Hall's Chronicle, published 1548, a shield of this shape appears on the curtain extending behind the throne.
No. 14—In a heraldic drawing, 1558, of the arms of Elizabeth, in Harl. MS. 6096, three of these shields are grouped (Willement's Regal Heraldry).
Annexed engraving of an enamelled plaque, supposed to have formed originally the centre of a large salver or dish, is taken from Proceed. Soc. Antiq., 7th Dec., 1876, and shows our shield No. 14 with the date 1563. Sir Thomas Bell died in 1566; he was thrice Mayor of the City of Gloucester, and also represented it in Parliament.
A Scotch seal, Francis Earl of Bothwell, 1587 (engraved Herald and Genealogist, vol. iv, p. 19).
Another Scotch seal, the Earl of Eglinton, 1620 (engraved Herald and Genealogist, vol. iv, p. 18).
Engravings in The English Baronetage, 1741, show the same.
Also in Principal Historical and Allusive Arms, by De la Motte, 1803, which work, indeed, aims at variety in its shapes and designs.
No. 15—In the printer's mark of Ant. du Ry, of Leyden, 1525.
In the shield of Anne Bullen, 1533 (Willement's Regal Heraldry).
Also a seal, 1575, Miscell. Genealogica, vol. ii, p. 170.
These shapes lend themselves particularly to decorations in stained glass, where variations may be constantly found, but it is generally difficult in such cases to give an exact date.
From all which it appears that these shapes—Nos. 13 to 15—began about 1520, and prevailed till about the third quarter of the sixteenth century; and from their beautiful outlines, they occasionally are used even to the present day. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they may often be found hacked and scrolled.
No. 16 occurs in a monument to Raynes, 1689 (engraved in Drake's Eboracum, p. 515).
This is a shape which would lend itself peculiarly to monuments or stained glass.
The shields engraved in Chauncey's History of Hertfordshire, 1700, are of this shape, slightly eared, and very slightly hollowed out in the sides.
Nos. 17 and 18.—In these a decidedly German influence is visible.
They occur in the German book of Virgil Solis, 1555.
The earliest English instance of No. 17 which I have noticed appears in the Visit. Hunts, 1613 (Camden Society), p. 4, with the arms of Clifton, but no exact date is attached.
In the 1724 edition of Guillim's Display similar shields are engraved, with scroll work round the edges.
Nos. 19, 20, 21, and 22.
No. 19 is found on the tomb of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, in Westminster Abbey, who died 1509 (Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 326), see No. 73.
Again in a ledger tomb at Brent-eleigh, in memory of Mrs. Sawyer, and dated 1734 (Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica for January, 1886).
Also in the engravings in Blomfield's Norfolk, 1739, with a shaped base.
No. 20, may be seen in stained glass, in Grappenhall Old Rectory window, of date about 1527.
Again in a brass in Antringham Church, Suffolk, dated 1562.
No. 21, a brass at St. Mary Quay, Ipswich, 1525 (Boutell's Brasses, p. 132).
Also on a seal, 1575 (engraved, Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica, vol. ii, p. 170).
Also on a seal, 1578, in Oliver Vredius (Seals of the Counts of Flanders).
Again in a grant of arms, 1715 (Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica, second series, vol. i, p. 188).
A ledger at Kelston churchyard, Gibbes quartering Harrington and Specott, 1730 (engraved in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica for Jan., 1884).
Thus showing that its present use so extensively by the College of Arms is a return to an old pattern existing at any rate since 1509.
Shields very similar occur in The Ancient Order of Prince Arthure, published by R. Robinson, 1583; also in Sylvanus Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, 1661; while the College of Arms shield No. 22 appears in the Great Seal of Edward VI., 1547.
This group, therefore, extends from about 1500 to the present day.
It is convenient to take Nos. 23 and 24 Stuart, together with 25 and 26 the Georgian.
No. 23, the annexed seal of Robert Greysbrooke of Middleton, is appended to his will, dated 1st September, 1668, and printed Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica for 1878.
It appears very constantly in seals from about 1610 to 1694.
The shape is used in Sir Peter Leycester's Historical Antiquities of Cheshire, published in 1673.
Again in Sylvanus Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, published 1661.
No. 24 appears in stone carving at Penshurst Place, Kent, showing the arms of Edward VI., 1547. The side points are curled round, and the centre one is capped with a fillet and half globe: an improvement by the stone cutter (Willement's Regal Heraldry), see No. 77.
It is found in the seals and in the crown-pieces of the Commonwealth, dated 1650.
Taking then the Georgian No. 25—In Willement's Regal Heraldry, the arms of Henrietta Maria, the wife of Chas. I., 1625, are reproduced in this shape.
It becomes very frequent 1783-92, and up to 1806 in monuments and book-plates—see page 56.
The shield is used in a work published at Worcester 1795, Historical Anecdotes of Heraldry and Chivalry.
Very many of the bulky seals so common during the last thirty years of the eighteenth century display coats of arms on shields of this shape, which seems to have been much used about this date. The Liverpool halfpenny, 1791, see No. 78; the Leeds halfpenny, 1791; and the Cronebane halfpenny, 1789; and no doubt many other copper tokens show No. 25.
No. 26 is figured by Randle Holme (Academy of Armoury, 1688), who took it from Sylvanus Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, 1661. He explains it is from old and decayed monuments. It is really adapted from ancient shields, which were used by the Amazons, and they are constantly represented with such shields and with double-headed battle axes on Greek coins (see Petiti de Amazonibus Dissertatio, 1687, p. 180, &c.)
The only change noticeable in these shields is that the Stuart, which extended down to certainly as late as 1694, have perpendicular sides,—with an occasional exception, as that quoted 1625,—while in the Georgian the sides are always more or less bulged out.
Nos. 27, 28, 29, and 30, with which may conveniently be taken the tops, designated "eared couped."
No. 27—This shape occurs in Brussels tapestry, dated 1610. The sides are more hollowed-out, and the ears more projected (Jacquemart's History of Furniture, p. 102, English translation).
Very frequently in ledger tombs, 1718, 1749, 1750, and in 1680 (see Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica, November, 1884, p. 172).
In a MS. dated 1710;
Also in the Radcliffe book-plate, circa 1720, engraved in Mr. Rylands' Notes on Book-Plates, 1889, p. 30.
No. 28—The arms of Caroline of Brandenburg, wife of George II., 1727, are given on this shield in Willement's Regal Heraldry.
No. 29—Several of the engravings in Guillim's Display, edition 1724, and in The English Baronetage, 1741, partake of this character, thus giving a range from 1610 to 1741 for this group.
No. 31 is a shield very extensively used in Germany and Holland.
It first appears in the seals of the Counts of Flanders (Oliver Vredius) in 1477 and 1487, and disappears in 1602.
It is figured fo. 1b in the Nuremberg Chronicle, published 1493.
It may be constantly found at all dates, and down to the present day in German heraldry.
Nos. 32, 33, and 34.
No. 32—This shield has a very extensive range of date; the first I have noticed is on the tomb of Anne of Cleves, in Westminster Abbey, 1539 (engraved in Willement's Regal Heraldry).
Engravings in an illustrated edition of Ariosto, printed Venetia, 1572, repeat the same shape.
In Bolton's Elements of Armories, 1610, where such arms as those of Paracoussi, King of Plate, The Navatalcas, early Mexicans, and the Incas of Peru, are placed in such shields.
The sixpences and York half-crowns of Charles I., 1614, and the arms on his Great Seal, 1627 (Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 515).
In a MS., 1652, reproduced in Miscell. Genealogica for January, 1885, p. 204.
The Great Seal of Charles II., 1653 (Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 517).
The seals of the Commonwealth in 1651 and 1656.
Engravings in Bisse's edition of Nicholas Upton, published 1654;
Also in Sandford's Genealogical History, 1677.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, seals with this shape are common enough, many of most beautiful execution, supported by cornucopiæ, fruit and flowers issuant therefrom; these extend from 1670 to 1700. We need only look at our Britannia's shield in a modern penny to see the same, adapted from that coin of Antoninus Pius where occurs the first representation of the figure of Britannia, A.D. 138.
No. 33.—The earliest I have noted is on the seal of Sir Thomas de Bikenore, Knt., attached to a charter, s.d., but about 1300; this is engraved Archæolog. Cantiana, vol. ii, p. 41.
It occurs upon the seals of the Counts of Flanders from 1403 to 1623 (Oliver Vredius); it also appears elsewhere in his work.
It is also on the tomb in Maidstone Church to John Wotton, 1417 (Arch. Cantiana, vol. i, p. 181).
It may be seen in the printer's mark of Richard Pynson, 1530.
I have also noticed No. 33 in one of Camden's grants, dated 2nd May, 1608, to James Master of East Landen, Kent: this is engraved Archæologia Cantiana, vol. v, p. 238.
No. 34 is, I think, chiefly restricted to foreign seals and engravings. I have not, so far, noticed an English example.
Nos. 35, 42, and 43.
No. 35—Egg-shaped may be regarded very much as a variation of No. 32, some artists considering it more graceful and better adapted to hold the arms and leave less of the field vacant. The shield of Edward the Black Prince, preserved at Canterbury, and already noticed at p. 30, was of this shape. He died 1376 (Bolton's Elements, p. 67).
But there is a large number of such seals as may be described egg-shaped, with hollowed-out sides, and frequently framed in scrolls; these are classed as cardioid Nos. 42 and 43, the outlines having been altered by scroll work, although sometimes the scrolls are omitted.
These occur in Divi Britannici, by Sir Winston Churchill, 1675;
In monuments of 1684, &c., in Blomefield's Norfolk;
And of 1699, Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica for December, 1884, p. 185;
Again in 1715, Herald and Genealogist, vol. ii, p. 230; and they are constantly to be found in monumental tablets.
Very frequently the bases of shields with hollowed-out sides are turned either to dexter or sinister, as noticed in seals throughout the eighteenth century; and in some later Jacobean, and in Chippendale book-plates say from 1720 to nearly the end of the century.
| Seal of Bartlett of Marldon and Exeter, co. Devon (Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica for June, 1887). | Seal of Joseph Palmer, King's Messenger: born 1683, died 1759 (Miscell. Genealogica et Heraldica, second series, vol. i, p. 86). |
| Seal of Michael Grazebrooke of Audnam: born 1723, died 1766 (Miscell. Gen. et Heraldica for 1878). | Seal of Joseph Siket to his will, 1758 (Herald and Genealogist, vol. iii, p. 316; also vol. vi, p. 211.) |
No. 36—French shields, so constantly represented in French heraldry, appear also in English grants of arms, 1557, 1561, 1582, 1612.
This is just an ordinary square shield, No. 7, with a pointed French base.
This shield, however, may be found at much earlier dates—see remarks on Simon de Montacute's seal to the Baron's letter, 1301, on p. 22; also the very curious brass formerly in St. Nicholas' Church, Lynn, to Thomas Waterdeyn, Mayor of Lynn in 1397 and 1404. This shows two shields, No. 36, which bear his merchant's mark, and stand on either side of a tree. He was alive in 1410 (see engraving, Archæologia, vol. xxxix, p. 505).
No. 39.—This curious Italian shield occurs in Gerard Leigh's Accedens of Armoury, 1562.
Also with curious scroll-work, dated 1589, in a timber house at Norwich, engraved, Archæologia, vol. xvi, p. 194.
In the Great Seal of Charles I., 1640, Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 516.
In the halfpenny of Charles II., 1660.
In the halfpenny of James II., 1685.
Randle Holme, book i, p. 6, would have us believe this was "the veritable shape of the Christal shield given by the goddess Minerva to Perseus, to enable him to slay the Gorgon Medusa, and which was after dedicated to Pallas," and this conceit may account for a monster's head introduced in the Great Seal of Charles I., 1640.
Grotesque shields, somewhat of this shape, are given to Ancient Britons, as in Speed's Theatre of Great Britain, 1676, and in MS. pedigrees of early seventeenth century, for the arms of Welsh princes and early potentates. Randle Holme (Academy of Armoury) gives one of these as from the monument of Mahomet, Emperor of Turkey, and another from the monument of Tamerlane, Emperor of Tartaria.
Nos. 40 and 41 actually do occur frequently in Roman bronzes and monuments, and are reproduced in engravings in Bolton's Elements of Armories, 1610, p. 147, &c. Bolton explains that it (41) occurs on the Column to Antoninus at Rome, but later discoveries have shown that this column was really erected to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in 174 A.D.
Nos. 42 and 43 cardioid shields (see the remarks upon 33, 34 and 35).—I think these arose from the decorative scroll-work placed around egg-shaped shields, and especially in late Jacobean and Chippendale times, when they may be found in monuments and book-plates. The earliest mural tablet I have noticed is dated 1699, at Winchester Cathedral. This is engraved Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica for December, 1884, p. 185.
The engravings in Divi Britannici, noticed under the variations of 35, nearly approach these.
Instances of pure heart-shaped shields occur in the brass to Willem Wenemaer, slain 1325. This is in the vestibule to the hospital which he founded at Ghent (Archæological Journal, vol. vii, p. 287);
Also in a monument at St. Margaret's, Hertford, 1691-2, shown in the annexed illustration. This is from Miscell. Geneal. et Heraldica, January, 1887, p. 197; and the shape may also be found at later dates.
My readers will also refer to that very interesting seal of Richard Basset, about 1145, described at p. 13, and No. 44: it is heart-shaped, greatly lengthened out.
A very curious heart-shaped shield, with the point turned round and scrolled, appears in the wooden effigy to one of the family of Oglander in Brading Church, Isle of Wight. This is supposed to be of sixteenth century. It is engraved in the Anastatic Drawing Society's vol. for 1883.
A curious instance of the recrudescence of early forms occurs when Sylvanus Morgan, vol. i, p. 27, places the arms of one Gill in a triangular shield, such as we noticed in the thirteenth century, and figured No. 1 in the sheet.
Again, heater-pear shields, No. 6, frequently occur in early monuments, as they accorded well with the style of decoration—see the monument to Henry Willoughby, 1581, at Wollaton (Thoroton's Notts, p. 27); also that to Richard Mansfield, 1624, at West Lake Church (Thoroton, p. 27); also that to Thomas Atkinson, 1661, at Newark-on-Trent (Thoroton, p. 200); also in a monument to the Clifton family, about 1670, engraved p. 61 in the same book.
It would be possible to give much more fully the exacter history of several of these shields, showing their various slight variations prevailing at different dates, but such would extend my "attempt" beyond a convenient length.
I have, however, selected one of the most common occurrence, feeling sure that its history will therefore be the more interesting. In A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, published by Parker, Oxford, 1847, the date 1724 is given as the "earliest shield that has been noticed of this tasteless, though still prevalent form," No. 81.
Now, here is the exact sequence with the small variations which I have been able to trace:—
No. 79—Occurs in a book printed by W. Rastell in 1533, quoted in Parker's Glossary.
In an inlaid chimney-piece at Bolsover Castle, with the arms Cavendish impaling Ogle, and therefore the date is 1590-1600.
Also in a MS. pedigree of Howard, date 1580, in the possession of Col. Crosse at Shaw Hill, co. Lancaster.
The next instance I have found is carved on a pew in Warrington Church, and bears the inscription "Richard Massye, 1617." This shows arms quarterly, (1) Rixton of Rixton, (2) Mascy of Rixton, (3) Warburton (?), see Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire vol. xxxix, p. 154, where this quartering is discussed; (4) Horton of Horton.
The same shaped shield appears in a monument to Richard Wiatt, who died in 1619. This stands in Isleworth Church, and is engraved in Herald and Gen., vol. iii, p. 500.
No. 84—Is frequently found in MSS. about 1620. I can refer to the pedigree of the Holland and Dukenfield families, which is dated 1622.
The same shield is used in Bysse's edition of Nicholas Upton, which was published in 1654.
Also in a certificate of arms by Segar Garter, 1625, Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. xxxviii, p. 72.
It is also carved in oak in Prescot Church, with the arms of Ogle of Whiston quartering Bertram, and the date 1650.
It again occurs on the gravestone of Richard Clegg, Vicar of Kirkham; the earliest date on which is 1677 (Chetham Society, vol. xcii, p. 128).
The same, but more slightly eared, occurs frequently with the dedicatory arms of the donors of the plates to Sandford's Genealogical History, published 1677.
A ledger stone, dated 1690, with the ears still less strongly marked, is engraved Miscell. Genealog. for February, 1885, p. 242.
No. 82—Occurs in a grant of arms, dated 1684, Miscell. Genealogica, second series, vol. i, p. 397.
The same shield appears in a grant, dated 1696, printed in the same work, first series, vol. ii, p. 191.
Such shields with very slightly marked ears, and with pointed or angular, also with French bases, are found very frequently in book-plates of 1700 and for ten years or so later, and sometimes with the sides very slightly hollowed-out.
No. 83—Is a shield with Queen Anne's arms, 1706, engraved in Willement's Regal Heraldry.
No. 80—May be seen in the monument to Tho. Norreys, 1624, in Rainham Church, Kent (Archæologia Cantiana, vol. vi, p. 295).
A grant of arms, dated 1720, is engraved in Miscell. Genealogica, vol. ii, p. 252, and shews the same shield.
Seals about the year 1718 appear with this same shape, of rather broad proportions, and with French bases rather flattened.
No. 81—In Wright's edition of Peter Heylin's Helps to History, published 1773, this variation is used, but of rather longer proportions.
About 1780, seals are noticed to follow the same character, and with angular or French bases, just as we see them prevailing even to the present day.
Plate VI.
This shield therefore, with slight variations in the ears, may be found from 1533 to the present day; and the date given in Parker's Glossary was fixed upon insufficient research.