Transcriber's Notes

Changes to the text are limited to correction of typographical errors are listed at[ the end of the book]. Minor corrections to formatting or punctuation are made without comment.

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Links to [Table of Contents]; [List of Illustrations]; [Index].

THE ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES
OF TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS
EDITED BY W. R. LETHABY

HERALDRY

BANNER OF THE ARMS OF KING GEORGE THE FIFTH.

HERALDRY FOR
CRAFTSMEN & DESIGNERS

BY W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE
LITT.D., D.C.L., WITH DIAGRAMS
BY THE AUTHOR AND
NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOURED LITHOGRAPHS
AND COLLOTYPE REPRODUCTIONS
FROM ANCIENT
EXAMPLES

PUBLISHED BY JOHN HOGG
13 PATERNOSTER ROW
LONDON 1913

Printed by Ballantyne & Company Ltd London

[EDITOR'S PREFACE]

In issuing this volume of a series of Handbooks on the Artistic Crafts, it will be well to state what are our general aims.

In the first place, we wish to provide trustworthy text-books of workshop practice, from the points of view of experts who have critically examined the methods current in the shops, and, putting aside vain survivals, are prepared to say what is good workmanship and to set up a standard of quality in the crafts which are more especially associated with design. Secondly, in doing this, we hope to treat design itself as an essential part of good workmanship. During the last century most of the arts, save painting and sculpture of an academic kind, were little considered, and there was a tendency to look on 'design' as a mere matter of appearance. Such 'ornamentation' as there was was usually obtained by following in a mechanical way a drawing provided by an artist who often knew little of the technical processes involved in production. With the critical attention given to the crafts by Ruskin and Morris, it came to be seen that it was impossible to detach design from craft in this way, and that, in the widest sense, true design is an inseparable element of good quality, involving as it does the selection of good and suitable material, contrivance for special purpose, expert workmanship, proper finish and so on, far more than mere ornament, and, indeed, that ornamentation itself was rather an exuberance of fine workmanship than a matter of merely abstract lines. Workmanship when separated by too wide a gulf from fresh thought—that is, from design—inevitably decays, and, on the other hand, ornamentation, divorced from workmanship, is necessarily unreal, and quickly falls into affectation. Proper ornamentation may be defined as a language addressed to the eye; it is pleasant thought expressed in the speech of the tool.

In the third place, we would have this series put artistic craftsmanship before people as furnishing reasonable occupations for those who would gain a livelihood. Although within the bounds of academic art the competition, of its kind, is so acute that only a very few per cent. can fairly hope to succeed as painters and sculptors, yet as artistic craftsmen there is some probability that nearly every one who would pass through a sufficient period of apprenticeship to workmanship and design would reach a measure of success.

In the blending of handwork and thought in such arts as we propose to deal with, happy careers may be found as far removed from the dreary routine of hack labour as from the terrible uncertainty of academic art. It is desirable in every way that men of good education should be brought back into the productive crafts: there are more than enough of us 'in the City,' and it is probable that more consideration will be given in this century than in the last to Design and Workmanship.

Designers have at times to deal with some matters which are almost common to all the arts, matters which they either know or do not know, and in which the genius they are apt to trust in goes for little apart from knowledge. They must learn lettering for inscriptions much like they once learnt the multiplication table, and they should learn the elements of heraldry in the same way. This it has been difficult to do, as most of the books on heraldry, in seeking to be complete, so effectually muddle up the few important points with the vast number of things unimportant, or worse, that the art student is likely to give it up in despair. Many books on heraldry, which in itself is surely a gay thing, have been made to resemble grammars and dictionaries of a meaningless jargon.

Any student, however, who has become interested in a single shield, or in the look of the thing as seen in a collection of fine examples of heraldry such as are illustrated in this volume, should be able to master the main principles in an hour or two. The curious terms are only old-fashioned; they are used, so far as they are necessary, not of malice, but because it is of the essence of heraldry that everything shall be so strictly defined that a few words may represent a shield of arms as surely as a picture. Hence everything has a name, everything is clear, sharp, and bright, the colours are few, the forms must be large and simple. Even the seemingly arbitrary dictum that 'no colour must be put on colour or metal on metal' may probably have arisen from the fact that when gilding or silvering was used on a shield it would form a perfect foil for colours, but as they reflected light in the same way, they could not be distinguished if used one on the other. Even yellow pigment on white would not tell clearly at any distance; the maxim is merely a rule for the sake of distinctness. Again, the curious vigorous drawing of beasts and birds with the eyes staring and the feet spread out was not the result of a desire to be quaint, but arose naturally from the same need of being clear. A good naturalistic drawing of a lion would be useless on a flag. Granted the special needs of heraldry, it developed in a perfectly understandable way.

On the question of heraldic drawing I should like to caution the student against thinking that it is so easy as it looks. Elementary and exaggerated, it may seem as if any child might do it, but in truth it is terribly difficult. The old shields were designed by experts with great experience; they placed the charge perfectly on the field and so distributed the parts that they were balanced in 'weight'; there were no weak lines and nothing was crowded for lack of room. Much practice made them perfect, and perfection is still difficult.

The present volume seems to me exactly what artists have wanted.

W. R. LETHABY

March 1913

[AUTHOR'S PREFACE]

This book is an attempt to place before designers and craftsmen such an account of the principles of the art of Heraldry as will enable them to work out for themselves the many and various applications of it that are possible to-day.

To that end the different usages which have prevailed from time to time are dealt with in detail, and are illustrated as far as may be from ancient sources.

Should it be thought that undue stress has been laid upon the pre-Tudor heraldry, to the comparative exclusion of that of later times, it may be pointed out that until the principles of the earlier heraldry have been grasped and appreciated, it is impossible to get rid of the cast-iron uniformity and stupid rules that bound the heraldry of to-day, and tend to strangle all attempts to raise it to a higher level.

To what extent these chilling ideas prevail, and how necessary it is to get rid of them, cannot better be illustrated than by two letters written to the author, after most of the following chapters were in type, by a critical friend who has not read any of them.

He points out in his first letter that on the very day of his writing there had been brought to his notice, not for the first time, the great need that exists for a book in which sculptors and painters may find out what they legitimately may and what they may not do as regards heraldry. What, for example, may be left out from an achievement of arms, and how the different elements composing it may be varied, or even rearranged.

He instances the case of a sculptor who had been supplied with a drawing, 'brilliant in emerald green and powder blue,' of the arms that had been granted to a famous Englishman whose memory was about to be honoured by the setting up of a statue with his arms, etc. carved upon the pedestal.

The arms in the drawing did not present any difficulties, but the crest was not shown upon the helm, and the whole was surrounded by a series of trophies which to this unenlightened sculptor were as heraldic as the arms and crest. Out of all this, asked the sculptor, what could lawfully be omitted? If any of the trophies were supporters, must they be shown? And must the crest be used? Ought the crest to be on a helm? And should the helm be shown in profile or full-faced?

The contents of the drawing, if all were sculptured, would, in my friend's opinion, 'either come so small as to be unmonumental, or so large as to dwarf the statue into a doll.'

It will be seen from the principles enunciated in the present work that the answers to the foregoing questions were obviously as follows:

I. That the sculptor might use the arms alone if he thought fit, and he might vary the shape and size of the shield according to his fancy.

II. That he could omit the crest if he wished, but if he elected to use it, the crest ought certainly to be set upon a helm, which should face the same way as the crest; the crested helm might also be flourished about with such mantling as the sculptor thought proper.

III. That in the particular drawing none of the trophies was heraldic. The sculptor accordingly could omit the whole, if he were so minded, or could dispose about the arms and crested helm any such other trophies of like character as would in his judgment look well or be appropriate.

In a further letter my friend enumerates other difficulties that vex poor artists. Must a shield always be surmounted by a crested helm? Should the helm face any special way according to the degree of the bearer thereof? What are the ordinary relative proportions which helm and crest should bear to the shield? May a shield be set aslant as well as upright? Should a torse be drawn with a curved or a straight line? Is it necessary to represent the engraved dots and lines indicative of the tinctures? What are supporters to stand upon? Are they to plant their feet on a ribbon or scroll, or on a flowering mound, or what? May arms entitled to have supporters be represented without them? What are the simplest elements to which a shield of arms may be reduced?—as, for example, in a panel some 60 or 70 feet above the eye, and when but a small space is available.

To a craftsman or designer who has grasped the principles of heraldry these further questions will present no difficulty, and most of them can be answered by that appeal to medieval usage which the nature of the illustrations renders possible.

These illustrations, it will be seen, are largely selected from heraldic seals, and for the particular reason that seals illustrate so admirably and in a small compass such a number of those usages to which appeal may confidently be made. Examples of heraldry in conjunction with buildings, monuments, and architectural features generally, have also been given, and its application to the minor arts has not been overlooked.

In order, too, to enable full advantage to be taken of the long period covered by the illustrations, the most typical of these have been collected into a [chronological series at the end of the book]. It is thus possible to show the gradual rise and decline of heraldic art from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, beyond which it is hardly necessary to go.

The only modern illustrations that have been tolerated are those showing the formation of the Union Jack, and the degraded condition of the so-called Royal Standard. The coloured frontispiece is an attempt to show a more effective way of displaying with equal heraldic 'correctness' the arms of our Sovereign Lord King George the Fifth.

W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE

My thanks are due to the Society of Antiquaries of London for leave to reproduce the coloured illustrations in pls. I and II, for the loan of blocks or drawings of figs. 7, 13, 33, 64, 65, 101, 129, 153, 186, 187, 190, and 193, and for leave to photograph the numerous casts of seals figured in pls. V-XIV and XVII-XXX and throughout the book; to the Royal Archæological Institute for loan of figs. 20 and 107; to the Sussex Archæological Society for the loan of fig. 142; to the Society of Arts for figs. 6, 15, 17, 28, 30, 41, 45, 46, 48, 51, 55, 73, 74, 86, 92, 114, 126, 127, 150, 154, 155, and 199; to the Royal Institute of British Architects for figs. 8, 93, and 199; to Messrs. Cassell & Co. for figs. 21, 53, 54, 56, 63, 81, 84, 85, 91, 108, 109, 117, 118, 124, 132, 133, 139, 151; to Messrs. Constable & Co. for figs. 9, 14, 43, 67, 68, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 83, 136, 137, 138; to Messrs. Parker & Co. for fig. 143; and to Messrs. Longmans & Co. for figs. 177, 183. Also to Mr. T. W. Rutter for lending the drawings reproduced in pls. II and III; to Mr. R. W. Paul for the drawing of fig. 184; to Mr. Mill Stephenson for the loan of the brass rubbings reproduced in figs. 19, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 35-39, 42, 146-148; to the Rev. T. W. Galpin, Mr. E. M. Beloe, and Mr. Aymer Vallance for the photographs of figs. 47, 149, and 191 respectively; and to the Rev. Severne Majendie for leave to photograph the effigies of the Duke and Duchess of Exeter (figs. 167, 168) in St. Katharine's chapel in Regent's Park.

I wish also to thank, among others, Mr. David Weller, head verger of Westminster Abbey, for leave to reproduce the photographs shown in figs. 1, 2, 4, 34, 40, 87, 104, 110, 134, 156, 176, 194, 195; Mr. T. W. Phillips, of Wells, for those forming figs. 23 and 111; Mr. Charles Goulding, of Beverley, for those forming figs. 49, 50; Mr. T. Palmer Clarke, of Cambridge, for those forming figs. 88, 96, 128, 170, 171, and 172; and Mr. Fred Spalding, of Chelmsford, for the photograph of the New Hall panel in fig. 189.

[CONTENTS]

CHAP.page
I. [INTRODUCTION] 33
Defects of Modern Heraldic Decoration; Appeal to First Principles; English versus Foreign Sources; Definition of Heraldry; Modes of Display; Colours and Furs; Formation of Arms; Divisions of the Shield; Early Authorities: Seals, Monuments, Buildings, Wills and Inventories, Rolls of Arms.
II. [THE SHIELD AND ITS TREATMENT] 65
Early Forms of Shields; Later Forms; Shields of Irregular Outline and Surface; The Filling of a Shield; Apparent versus Absolute Uniformity; Modern Rules as to Proportion; The Use and Abuse of Quartering: its Origin and Growth; Differencing of Arms; The Scutcheon of Ulster; Diapering.
III. [THE SHIELD AND ITS TREATMENT (cont.)] 109
Armorial Bearings of Ladies; Use of Lozenges and Roundels as variant forms of Shields; Arms of Men on Lozenges; Combinations of Shields with Lozenges and Roundels of Arms on Seals and in Embroideries.
IV. [THE TREATMENT OF CRESTS] 123
Origin of Crests; Earliest examples of Crests; Ways of wearing Crests; The Helm and its treatment; Modern use of Helms; Absurd Crests; Use of Crests other than by individuals; The comparative sizes of Helms and Crests.
V. [MANTLINGS] 139
Origin of Mantlings; Simple early forms; Colours of Mantlings; Medieval usage as to colours of Mantlings.
VI. [CRESTS AND CROWNS, CAPS OF ESTATE, AND WREATHS] 148
Crests within Crowns; Nature and Treatment of Crowns; Caps of Estate: Their possible origin and introduction into Heraldry; The colour of Caps; The placing of Crests upon Caps; Wreaths or Torses; Their Colour; Crests and Mottoes; Use of Crests by Bishops; The ensigning of Arms with Mitres, Cardinals' and Doctors' Hats, and Caps of Estate.
VII. [THE USE OF BADGES, KNOTS, AND THE REBUS] 165
Definition of a Badge; Difference between Crests and Badges; Examples of Badges; The Ostrich-Feather Badge; The White Hart, etc.; Introduction of Badges into Heraldry; Their Prevalence; Allusive Badges; Badges of obscure Origin; Knots and Badges; The Rebus.
VIII. [SUPPORTERS] 193
The probable Origin of Supporters; Quasi-Supporters; True Supporters: their Introduction; Supporters of Crested Helms; Pairs of Supporters; Dissimilar Supporters; The use of Supporters by Ladies; Other ways of Supporting Shields.
IX. [BANNERS OF ARMS] 219
The Royal Banner of Arms; The Banner of the Arms of the City of London; Shapes of Banners; Sizes of certain Banners; Upright versus Long Banners; Advantages of the upright form; Banners with Achievements of Arms; Modern Use of Banners.
X. [MARSHALLING OF ARMS] 251
Arms of husband and wife; Dimidiating; Impaling; Scutcheons of Pretence; Impalement with Official Arms; Arms of ladies; Heraldic Drawing; Mottoes; Use and Misuse of the Garter; Lettering and Mottoes.
XI. [CROWNS, CORONETS, AND COLLARS] 269
Crowns and Coronets; Introduction of Coronets; Coronets of Princes, Dukes, and Earls; Bequests of Coronets; Illustrations of Coronets and Crowns; Collars and Chains; Collars of Orders; Lancastrian Collars of SS; Yorkist Collars of Suns and Roses; Tudor Collars of SS; Other Livery Collars; Waits' Collars; Collars and Chains of Mayors, Mayoresses, and Sheriffs; The Revival of Collars; Inordinate Length of modern Collars.
XII. [HERALDIC EMBROIDERIES] 319
The introduction of armorial insignia in embroidered Vestments: on Robes: on Beds, etc.
XIII. [TUDOR AND LATER HERALDRY] 331
Decorative Heraldry of the Reign of Henry VIII; The Decadent Change in the Quality of Heraldry; Examples of Elaborated Arms; Survival of Tradition in Heraldic Art; Elizabethan Heraldry; Heraldry in the Seventeenth Century and Under the Commonwealth; Post-Restoration Heraldry.
[CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS] 354
[INDEX] 411

[LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS]