Fig. 116. Seal of William de Ferrers with shield upon an eagle with two heads.
Interesting transitional usages may also be found. Thus on a seal (c. 1350) of Margaret Graunson two wivers uphold by their beaks the upper corners of a shield of her husband's arms, while a third wiver similarly grips the point. Guy de Bryen (c. 1350) has his shield hung upon a tree and supported at the corners by two wivers holding it by their beaks. Another lady, Joan FitzAlan, who married in 1362 Humphrey Bohun earl of Hereford, has an impaled shield of their arms held up in their beaks by two Bohun swans; and another pair of swans perform the same office in a FitzWarin seal used in 1398-9 (pl. [XX] A).
PLATE XX.—Shields with supporters.
- A Ivo FitzWarin, in 1398-9.
- B Peter de Mauley, in 1379-80.
- C Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, 1397-8.
- D John la Warre, in 1390.
A curious variant from the ordinary flanking pair of beasts occurs on the seal of Edmund Mortimer earl of March (1360-81), where the arms are accompanied by a pair of lions with their heads covered by large helms with the earl's crest, a bush of feathers rising from a crown. A similar treatment is to be seen on a seal of John la Warre, as used in 1390 (pl. [XX] D).
Analogous cases will be noted on the seal of Sir Robert de Marni (1366) (fig. [64]), whose shield hangs from a tree and is flanked by two fronting helms with tall pairs of wings rising from caps of estate as crests; also in a seal of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh (1397-8), which has the shield flanked by two helms crested with tall soldans' heads, and surmounted by what is probably his badge, a swan with a lady's head (pl. [XX] C). A seal of Sir Roger Scales (1369-86) has his seal flanked by two long-necked wivers, and hung by a strap from another wiver which has twisted itself into the shape of the letter S, and perched itself on the upper edge of the shield.