About this sheet
This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color with gold and silver, lettered "FIGURES HÉRALDIQUES de 3EME ORDRE (Suite)" and "SÉANCES ou SÉCANTES PARTITIONS.". Twelve labeled shields are set in four rows of three. The first six show four gold mascles on blue, three silver rustres on red, a gold bezant on blue, blue roundels on a gyronny field of red and silver, half silver and half black roundels on red, and half silver and half green roundels on gold. The last six show divided fields: barry of gold and green, paly of gold and red, bendy of silver and blue, chevronny of red and silver, equipollé of red and silver, and checky of blue and gold.
The running head reads "SCIENCE HÉRALDIQUE. PL. V." The labels are "5. Les Macles, 6. Les Rustes, 7. Les Besants, 8. Les Tourteaux, 9. Les Besants-Tourteaux, 10. Les Tourteaux-Besants" (mascles, rustres, bezants, roundels, bezant roundels, roundel bezants), and for the partitions "Le Fascé, Le Palé, Le Bandé, Le Chevronné, Les Points équipollés, L'Echiqueté" (barry, paly, bendy, chevronny, equipollé, checky). The credits are "F. Séré del. et lith." and "Chromolith. Lemercier", 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.
