Fig. 165.—The Countess of Derby’s Bookplate.
Geo. W. Eve.
In other examples, notably those sculptured on St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, the arch is much flattened and the crosses and fleurs-de-lis stand high on the rim, thus producing a certain squareness which is very happily suggestive of strength. It was this type of crown that influenced the treatment of those on the present Royal bookplates. In the seventeenth century the arches were depressed where they cross, and in the Georgian period the extent of the depression was very considerable, as may be seen in the maces of that time.
Fig. 166.—Golden Bulla with which the Treaty of the Field of the Cloth of Gold was Sealed. Sixteenth Century.
It seems to evidence the want of intention, and that ignoring of symbolic value that was characteristic of the time, for otherwise the idea would certainly have suggested itself that the orb, the emblem of sovereignty, should be held strongly up, and the crown be made to suggest its adequacy to its pre-eminent dignity.
Doubtless this was in sympathy with the somewhat heavy curves of other ornament, but its effect is common-place, weak and unfortunate. The general character of the present day shape is a return to the more beautiful pointed arch, and Fig. 167 is the form approved by His Majesty for official use. It is to be understood that this does not refer to the actual crown, which has remained much as it was in the time of Charles II, but to its heraldic equivalent.
Fig. 167.—The Royal Crown as sanctioned for official use.
The decoration of the arches may take many forms, sometimes consisting of large pearls, as in the usual way, sometimes of architectural crockets as in much of the carved decoration, or as jewelled running ornament composed of national Badges, or of oak-leaves and acorns as in that which is known as the Imperial State Crown. A fine example of the Tudor crown occurs in the stained glass roundel of the Arms of Queen Jane Seymour, in which the arches are crocketted, and the crosses have the cusped character that was prevalent at this period, Fig. 168.