Fig. 149. Shield of the arms of Sir Humphrey Littlebury, from his effigy at Holbeach in Lincolnshire, c. 1360, with fine examples of heraldic leopards.
It would be an advantage, too, if artists would revert to the old ways of representing the furs known as ermine and vair. The ancient ermine tails did more or less resemble the actual tail of an ermine, but the modern object with its three dots above has no likeness to it whatever (fig. [150]). So too with regard to vair, which represents the skins of grey squirrels, the modern treatment of it as rows of angular eighteenth century shields is far removed from the conventional forms of the real skins seen in the best old work (fig. [151]).
Fig. 150. Early and modern versions of ermine-tails.
Fig. 151. Early and modern versions of vair.
It has already been pointed out that there are no strict rules as to the particular shades of colour allowable in heraldry, and it is one of the surprises of the student to find what dull and cold tones were anciently used that yet look quite right. The apparently bright reds, for example, of the enamel in the early stall-plates at Windsor are actually brick-colour, and the apparent fine blues a cold grey; but their combination with gilding and silvering makes all the difference in the ultimate beautiful rich effect.