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Hobby Forum Index » Heraldry » Some odd questions...
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| Nessus... |
 Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 5:51 am |
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Guest
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I have a rather odd series of questions that perhaps you experts can
assist me with.
I am attempting to interpret a16th century escutcheon that appears in
a play and seems to have been intended as a joke in heraldic language.
It reads, in part;
“between three plates, a chevron engrailed checquy, or, vert, and
ermins;”
Now, I understand that there are generally no hard and fast meanings
that can be looked up for these devices, but my research has suggested
some contemporary allusions to some of them, particularly Guillim’s
1610 “A Display of Heraldry”, which says of chevrons:
“This Ordinary is resembled to a paire of Bargecouples or Rafters,
such as Carpenters do set on the highest part of the house, for
bearing of the roofe thereof; and betokeneth the atchieving of some
businesse of moment, or the finishing of some Chargeable and memorable
worke.”
It seems to me, therefore that the plates, as argent roundels, should
represent silver coins, as payment for some "Chargeable" work
achieved, but I can find no information about plates to confirm this.
Also, am I correct in assuming that the plates would appear one to
each side and one under the point of the chevron? Or would it be over
the point?
I am also confused as to a reason for the engrailment, which Guillim
describes only as a class of lines that are, ”crooked.” It seems
possible in context that the author of the escutcheon is using an
extremely esoteric canting-style pun to suggest that the work achieved
was dishonest, but it seems a bit of a stretch to me.
Guillim also says that no gentleman lower in rank than an earl could
use multiple rows of ermine. Would that be the case on a chevron in
checquy? It would seem to me that this would have to be considered
multiple rows of ermine in this case, and that this supposed work
should therefore have been achieved for an Earl, since the character
in the play is manifestly not an Earl.
I hope this makes some sense, and your opinions would be greatly
appreciated. |
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| Nessus... |
| Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:27 am |
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Guest
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My apologies for double posting. I thought I had hit the wrong button
when the first post failed to show up for a day. |
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| Chas... |
| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:03 am |
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Guest
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On 5 Oct, 16:51, Nessus <nessu... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
Quote:
It seems to me, therefore that the plates, as argent roundels, should
represent silver coins, as payment for some "Chargeable" work
achieved, but I can find no information about plates to confirm this.
Also, am I correct in assuming that the plates would appear one to
each side and one under the point of the chevron? Or would it be over
the point?
A plate looks like a plate and that is why it is called a plate. A
bezant on the other hand looks like a Bezant and would normally be
used to represent money. As barter was a regular form of payment -
any charge could be used to represent a transaction. "Sometimes a
cigar is just a cigar." Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)
Regards |
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| Nessus... |
| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:46 am |
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Guest
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On Oct 6, 11:03 am, Chas <chascharlesdu... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
Quote: On 5 Oct, 16:51, Nessus <nessu... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
It seems to me, therefore that the plates, as argent roundels, should
represent silver coins, as payment for some "Chargeable" work
achieved, but I can find no information about plates to confirm this.
Also, am I correct in assuming that the plates would appear one to
each side and one under the point of the chevron? Or would it be over
the point?
A plate looks like a plate and that is why it is called a plate. A
bezant on the other hand looks like a Bezant and would normally be
used to represent money. As barter was a regular form of payment -
any charge could be used to represent a transaction. "Sometimes a
cigar is just a cigar." Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)
Regards
Something else now strikes me. I think Chas is right in pointing out
that coins would more probably be represented by Bezants, which had
not occurred to me at all. So if a plate is a plate, it seems to me
now that the perfect pun is right there. Jonson has the boar’s head
and puddings on a table, and below that… plates!  |
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