[ANSTHRLD] Please help with this device

[tmcd at jump.net]

"Bridgid of Kincairn" <bridgid at zamigo.net> wrote:
> Below is a very crude computer and mouse
> drawn picture of the device.
...
> [ Derich device.bmp of type image/bmp deleted ]

Attachments are not allowed on Ansteorran mailing lists.  They don't
work in the e-mail digest form, they can take a lot of space, and some
attachments have nasties in them.

> Vert and Agent quarterly, a barrel ermine (brown) with two barley
> stalks crossed beneath the barrel Or.
>
> I know that is not a very heraldic blazon

If you're not absolutely sure of the correct blazon, you should
describe it in plain English as well.  My interpretation:

The field (background) is split like this.  (This diagram works only
in a fixed-width font like Courier or Typewriter, so you may have to
change your mail reader preferences to make this work.)

 1 | 2
   |
---+---
   |
 3 | 4

1 and 4 are green, and 2 and 3 are white ("argent", with an "r").

In the center, over the +, is a barrel.  "Ermine" doesn't mean the
same thing as "brown".  "Ermine" represents a white fur with black
ermine tails.  The coat of arms of Brittany is "Ermine.", and it can
be seen at
    http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood/5004/m232b.gif
"Brown" can be used only for animals and for certain plant parts
(e.g., wood).  My guess is that it's a wooden barrel proper.

"Beneath" is ambiguous.  It could mean that the barley stalks were
laid on the field first centered on the +, and the barrel was placed
over their intersection, or that the barrel is directly on the field
(centered on the +) and the barley is towards the base of the field,
like centered between 3 and 4.

So we need a more precise description.

One blazon note: unlike some real-world blazon, we don't capitalize
all the tinctures.  The words we capitalize:
- The first word of the blazon.
- "(Fieldless)" and "(Tinctureless)" (not strictly part of the blazon).
- The tincture "Or".
- Proper names.

> I do have a concern about the gold barley on the white quarter and
> the black band on the brown barrel. Am I correct in thinking that
> the barrel is exempted from the black-on-brown rule because this is
> its natural coloring?

No, "proper" does not exempt anything from contrast.  The Rules for
Submission, RfS VIII.2, cover the rules for contrast.  A
submissions-handling herald should have a copy of the RfS, Admin
Handbook, and Glossary of Terms.  They can be found on-line under
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/, or can be ordered in paper copies from
Free Trumpet Press West by printing and mailing an order form you can
get on the same page.

However, an artistic detail like a black band on a barrel -- that is,
a detail not needed for identification of the object -- doesn't have
to follow the rules of contrast.

Gold barley on a white background might be a problem, but the details
depend on where the barley is, whether centered on the + or in the
bottom half of the field.  If it's centered on the +, then one gold
barley stalk is entirely on white, and I suspect that it would be
returned.  If it's below, a background that's half green and half
white is neutral for contrast purposes "as long as identifiability is
maintained" (to quote the RfS).  The problem in *that* case is that
one stalk of barley would have its gold head, the only thing
distinguishing it from a spear, a toothpick, or whatever, entirely on
argent.  I suspect that would be a judgment call.

(A further note, if I may: the design, which in some form is
registerable, is far from period style.  We might recommend some more
period possibilities, but only if the submitter is interested and can
give us some hints about their likes and dislikes.)

Daniel de Lincolia
--
Tim McDaniel is tmcd at jump.net; if that fail,
    tmcd at us.ibm.com is my work account.
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