About this sheet
This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color with gold and silver, lettered "FIGURES NATURELLES." Twelve labeled shields in four rows of three show charges drawn from nature: two gold lions passant on blue, a red eagle on silver, black eaglets in the quarters of a red cross on silver, silver alerions in the quarters of a blue cross on red, three dark shells on gold and three silver martlets with a red fess on blue. Below are a red rose on gold, gold trefoils with a red fess on blue, a blue cinquefoil on gold, red flowers round a blue cross on silver, three red acorns on gold and blue columbines with a silver fess on red.
The running head reads "PL. X. SCIENCE HÉRALDIQUE". The labels are "1. Le Lion léopardé, 2. L'Aigle, 3. Les Aiglettes, 4. Les Alérions, 5. Les Coquilles, 6. Les Merlettes, 7. La Rose, 8. Les Tierce feuilles, 9. Les Quinte feuilles, 10. Les Coquerelles, 11. Les Glands, 12. Les Ancolies" (lion passant, eagle, eaglets, alerions, shells, martlets, rose, trefoils, cinquefoils, coquerelles, acorns, columbines). 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.
