Category: Traceable Art

The seasons are starting to turn here and I figured that was as good reason as any to review the changes that’ve been made to the Traceable Heraldic Art collection over the last three months, including over two hundred and sixty new entries.

Eighty of those new images are drawn from Joakim Spuller’s WappenWiki collection, for which he has my continuing thanks. My appreciation also goes out to returning artists Volusia Zoe, Aurora Faw, and Lily Morgaine, as well as first-time contributor Tancorix inigena Bivaidonas — welcome to the team!

Other images in this update were drawn from period manuscripts, including for the first time Jean Faucket’s Commonplace Book of Heraldry, Des Kaiserlichen Kammergerichts zu Speier Kammerrichter, Wapenboek van Gent, and Queens College MS 72. My thanks to Iago ab Adam for continuing to bring new sources such as these to the attention of our community.

Additions since the last announcement are listed below, with parenthetical labels for new entries or multiple related illustrations.

• Fields: Kürsch (2); Masculy; Vair Counter-vair
• Divisions: Chapé; Chapé Ployé; Checky of 4; Gyronny of 14; Lozengy; Masculy (3); Paly Bendy; Paly Bendy Sinister; Per Bend Raguly; Per Chevron Throughout; Per Chevron Throughout Ployé (new); Per Fess Embattled; Per Fess Embattled Ghibelline (new); Per Pale Per Bend and Per Bend (new)
• Ordinaries: Bars Dancetty; Bars Enarched (new, 2); Bars Gemel; Base and Pale Conjoined (new); Bend; Bend Compony; Bend Dancetty; Bend Embattled; Bend Fusilly; Bendlets; Bendlets Cotised (new, 2); Bendlets Fimbriated (2); Bend Masculy (new); Bordure Compony (2); Chevronels, Chevronels Gemel (new, 2); Chapé Ployé And A Chief (new); Cross Engrailed; Cross Formy Throughout (new, 2); Cross Raguly; Cross Interlaced with an Annulet (new); Fess Counter-compony; Fess Doubly Cotised (new); Fess Raguly (2); Pall; Pall Voided (new); Piles Inverted Palewise; Saltire Compony; Saltire Engrailed
• Shapes & Symbols: Cross Couped and Pierced (new); Cross Crosslet (2); Cross Énchancré (new, 2); Cross Formy; Cross Formy Fitchy at All Ends (new); Cross Formy Voided (new); Cross Of Santiago; Cross Swallowtailed; Cross Swallowtailed Voided (new); Cross of Four Lozenges; Ermine Spot (2); Heart Voided (new); Mandorla (new); Masculyn; Octagon Voided (new); Patriarchal Cross; Saltorel Engrailed (new); Tau Cross; Three Vires; Triangle Inverted Voided Bottony (new)
• The World & Heavens: Demi-Sun Issuant from Dexter Chief (new); Rock Face; Rock Issuant from Base (new)
• Plants: Acorns Issuant from a Trimount (new); Angemme (new, 2); Ash Keys; Chaplet of Roses; Cinquefoil (2); Firewood (new); Fleur de Lys Fracted Palewise (new); Garb of Wheat; Ginkgo Leaves Conjoined in Pall (new); Hurst of Trees Couped; Linden Leaf Issuant from a Ragged Staff (new); Linden Tree Eradicated; Maple Leaf; Nopal Cactus (new); Oak Leaf; Oak Tree Fructed and Eradicated; Per Chevron Two Linden Leaves Issuant from the Line (new); Pine Tree; Quatrefoil Slipped (new); Sprig; Sprig of Maple Leaves (new); Stemless Trefoil (new); Trillium
• Fishes: Chabot; Eel; Fish Skeleton Haurient (new); Nautilus (new, 2)
• Reptiles: Basilisk; Caldera Gringolada; Crocodile Statant; Dragon; Frog; Serpent Erect
• Birds: Bird’s Jambe Conjoined to a Wing (new, 2); Crane with Wings Addorsed (2); Eagle; Wing (2)
• Beasts: Badger Passant (new); Bear Statant Erect (2); Bear’s Head Couped; Beaver Statant; Bison Statant (new); Boreyne Passant (new); Bull Statant Head Lowered (new); Bull’s Horn (new); Caretyne Passant (new); Chatloup Rampant (new); Dog Courant (2); Fox Rampant; Lion; Lion Collared and Chained (new); Lion Passant Guardant (2); Lion with Paw Upturned (new); Lion’s Head Erased (2); Ram Couchant (new); Stag’s Attire (3); Stag’s Head Cabossed; Stag’s Head Erased Affronty; Stag’s Massacre; Wolf Passant; Wolf Passant Ravishing a Lamb (new); Wolf Rampant; Wolf Sejant Affronty (new); Wolf’s Head Cabossed; Wolf’s Head Erased Affronty
• People: Harpy Displayed (new); Manticore Rampant (new)
• Food: Amphora; Bread Basket (new); Cheese Grater (new, 2); Covered Cup; Drinking Horn; Footed Pot; Gridiron; Knife; Pie (new); Pretzel (new)
• Clothes: Buckle (2); Comb; Glove; Imperial Crown; Jester’s Cap; Jew’s Hat; Maunch (2); Mitre; Scarf Tied in Annulo; Slovene Hat (new); Sugar-loaf Hat (new)
• Tools: Anvil; Axe; Carpenter’s Square; Ladder; Punner; Staple
• Buildings: Castle (2); Fireplace (new); Park Pales; Pavilion; Tower (2); Tower Battlements (new); Writing Table (new)
• Arts and Sciences: Backgammon Board; Crozier; Harp; Mouth Harp (new); Pair of Stilts (2)
• Farming: Barnacles (2); Collar and Chain (new); Covered Wagon (new); Fer-a-loup; Harrow; Hay House; Pruning Knife; Rake Head; Scythe; Scythe Blade; Turning Cratch; Wagon; Winnowing Basket; Yoke
• Ships & Fishing: Anchor; Drakkar; Hulk (new); Lymphad with Oars Shipped (2); Rowboat; Trident
• Military: Arrow; Bow; Breastplate; Caltrop; Cannon Barrel (new); Catapult (new, 2); Fauchard (new, 2); Gauntlet Aversed; Lance; Mortar (new); Pistol (new); Spearhead; War-Scythe (new, 2)
• Assorted Objects: Candlestick; Money Box (new, 2); Orle Of Chain; Pair of Felloes; Rimless Wheel; Wheel (2)
• Achievement Elements: Banner and Lance; Grassy Compartment (2)
• Escutcheon Outlines: Embowed Heater; English Scrollwork (new); Heart Field; Kite Outline; Nguni Shield (new)
• Diapering: Dot and Cross Diapering (new, 2)

With the cold weather setting in, I thought the time was right for another periodic summary of updates to the Traceable Heraldic Art collection. Since this summer’s announcement, more than two hundred additional images have been added, bringing the total to over 5,500 charges, fields, and assorted accessories.

This project would not be possible without the many contributors who’ve shared their illustrations with the community. Of particular note is Volusia Zoe, who provided more than fifty lovely new images, including many beasts’ legs, claws, and tails that may be used both as independent charges and to assemble hybrid heraldic monsters. I would also like to thank returning artists Jessimond of Emerickeskepe, Vémundr Syvursson, and Li Xia, as well as first-time conributor Nest verch Gwilim.

Another tranche of sixty images was drawn from WappenWiki, a wonderful site full of very-well drawn armorial imagery with a very consistent and sophisticated style, all released under a Creative Commons license. My sincere thanks to site editor Joakim Spuller for making this material available under terms that facilitate its use by the historical recreation community, and I look forward to incorporating additional images in the coming year.
Continue reading “Traceable Art Autumnal Wrapup”

Like Pennsic 49, this round of updates to the Book of Traceable Art has been somewhat delayed and is a bit smaller than usual; it has been six months since the last time I posted one of these announcements, and in that time I’ve only added a bit over a hundred new images. (My father passed away earlier this year and it’s taking me a while to get back into gear.)

As always, I am excited to welcome our first-time contributors: Choi Min (nice qilins!), Aurora Faw, Fred Siler, and especially Volusia Zoe, who filled a gap in the collection by supplying a handful of pantheons in various postures, as well as a pair of fearsome rats.

And I am thankful for the continuing support of returning artists Di Amador, Sadhbh Bheag, Séamus Uí Chonchobhair, and Drystan ap Ercwlff; this project would be a lot poorer without your ongoing efforts.

I particularly want to call out three tireless illustrators — Jessimond of Emerickeskepe, Iago ab Adam, and Vémundr Syvursson — who have now each drawn a hundred or more images for this collection, a mark of true dedication; I am in their debt. Continue reading “Traceable Art for Pennsic 49”

Given the years of effort that have gone into building the Traceable Heraldic Art collection, it’s very gratifying to know that it’s actually being used by other people, and aside from anecdotal reports, the clearest feedback I get on this front is Google Analytics, which I enabled shortly after creating the site in December 2016.

Traffic has grown slowly over the last five and a half years, but over time persistence has paid off in increasing visibility. On a typical day in the last year the site was visited by between one hundred and two hundred people. Many of these folks are coming from search engine results, and about half of them take one look around and immediately leave after deciding that this site isn’t going to answer their questions about how to use a crancelin or give them the style of dolphin art they searched for. But others stay and browse through dozens of pages, so the number of  page views is usually between one and two thousand per day.

Presumably that growth won’t continue forever, and it will be interesting to see where things level off.

As the new calendar year begins, it’s time for another update on the Traceable Art collection. Over the last two months, over a hundred and thirty illustrations have been added, bringing the total to just over five thousand images.

More than half of the new entries are ordinaries and field divisions from Gunnvôr silfrahárr‘s Viking Answer Lady SVG Images For Heralds. With this update, nearly all of the images from this collection are now included in the Traceable Art.

A few additional original illustrations have also been added in this round, from new contributor Hu Zhen and returning artists Iago ab Adam and Li Xia. Continue reading “Traceable Art at Year’s End”

Over the last two months, more than a hundred new entries have been added to the Book of Traceable Heraldic Art, putting it on track to pass five thousand charges and fields some time around the end of the calendar year.

I’m pleased to welcome first-time contributors Di Amador and Sneferu ex Artemisias, and extend my thanks to returning artists Saewynn aet Cnolle, Vémundr Syvursson, Iago ab Adam, Jessimond of Emerickeskepe, and Maryan Hoskyns.

If you’ve drawn heraldic line art that you’re willing to share with the community, or would like to find another way of getting involved, please drop me a line! Continue reading “Autumn Art Updates”

During the last three months, over 225 new entries have been added to the Book of Traceable Heraldic Art, bringing the total to 4,800 images plus appendices.

Some of these illustrations were provided by first-time contributors Drystan ap Ercwlff, Elizabeth Riverwood, Groza Novgorodskaia, Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Ragna stórráða Úlfsdóttir, and Sadhbh Bheag — thank you all, and welcome to the team.

Likewise, my continuing appreciation goes out to returning artists Saewynn aet Cnolle, Jessimond of Emerickeskepe, Iago ab Adam, Vémundr Syvursson, Forveleth Dunde, Owen Tegg, Thora Brandsdottir, Aine ingen Gilla Crist, and Estelle de la Mer. Continue reading “Traceable Art at Summer’s End”

Following the writeup of An Idiosyncratic System for Publishing the Traceable Heraldic Art, I put together a few notes laying out some of the kinds of data managed by the current system with an eye towards a possible design for the schema of a future database implementation: Continue reading “A Database Schema for the Traceable Art”