About this sheet
This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color with gold and silver, lettered "FIGURES ARTIFICIELLES, 1." Twelve labeled shields in four rows of three show man made charges: silver millrinds on red, blue scabbard tips on gold, red horse brays on silver, dark caltrops on gold, a gold horn shaped cornière on blue and silver axes on red. Below are gold buckles on red, a gold portcullis on blue, gold bells on red, four silver otelles in saltire on blue, blue phéons drawn as fir tree shapes on gold, and red chess rooks on silver.
The running head reads "PL. XI. SCIENCE HÉRALDIQUE". The labels are "1. Les Anilles, 2. Les Bouterolles, 3. Les Broies, 4. Les Chausse-trappe, 5. La Cornière, 6. Les Doloires, 7. Les Fermaux, 8. La Herse, 9. Les Grelots, 10. Les Otelles, 11. Les Phéons, 12. Les Roquets" (millrinds, scabbard chapes, brays, caltrops, cornière, axes, buckles, portcullis, bells, otelles, phéons, rooks). The credits are "E. Hauger del. et lith." and "Chromolith. Lemercier, r. de Seine 57, Paris.", with "F. Séré direxit."
Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance, histoire et description des mœurs et usages, du commerce et de l'industrie, des sciences, des arts, des littératures et des beaux-arts en Europe was edited by Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, with Ferdinand Séré as artistic director, and it was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Its plates reproduce objects, manuscripts, seals and ornament of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and every sheet carries a running head naming the work, the section and the plate number. The Science héraldique plates of the fourth volume set out the vocabulary of French blazon in sequence, each shield labeled with the term it illustrates, so that the series reads as an illustrated glossary of heraldry.
Framed singly or hung as a run of the heraldry plates, the sheet suits a library, a study or a hallway.
Condition: Light age toning, a little darker toward the edges; occasional small spots in the margins.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
