The American Society of Genealogists

 
George Lucki
 
Avatar
 
 
George Lucki
Total Posts:  644
Joined  21-11-2004
 
 
 
21 September 2007 16:56
 

I’m in agreement with Guy. Hatching is but one system for representing colour in monochrome arms - and better than tricking, and certainly I see some benefit to it in some monochrome applications (monochrome bookmarks or seal impressions for example) but when it gets in the way of visual recognition or pleasing art - it should be dispensed with. Although the colour information is lost line drawings can be quite appropriate, as can shaded ones or even partially hatched drawings (omitting for example the hatching in the small details). The hatched drawing is simply an artistic representation of the arms - it is not a visual substitute for the blazon.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
Avatar
 
 
Joseph McMillan
Total Posts:  7658
Joined  08-06-2004
 
 
 
21 September 2007 17:46
 

Hatching may be better than tricking when you want an artistic rendering in monochrome, such as an engraved seal or letterhead, or on a woodblock print bookplate, etc., but tricking, properly done, is preferable if you’re recording a design and don’t care what the drawing looks like as long as it conveys the desired information.  If I’m taking notes on a particular coat of arms, I’d much rather write "Or" with a line pointing to the field and "Sa" pointing to the rudely sketched lion rather than sitting there for fifteen minutes stippling little dots and drawing criss-cross lines.

Other than that, I completely agree with George and Guy.

 
WBHenry
 
Avatar
 
 
WBHenry
Total Posts:  1078
Joined  12-02-2007
 
 
 
21 September 2007 23:44
 

I am wondering if, historically, hatching and tricking were used not only as a quick "shorthand" for creating armorials and rendering arms as George stated above, but is it possible heralds used this for craftsman and artisans who simply could not read and, therefore, could not make use of a blazon?  I do not believe I have ever seen this stated anywhere, but is it a possibility?

(As you mull this over, please remember that some people say the glass is half empty, some say the glass is half full, but I say the glass is too big in the first place.)

 
David Pritchard
 
Avatar
 
 
David Pritchard
Total Posts:  2058
Joined  26-01-2007
 
 
 
22 September 2007 07:11
 

WBHenry;49976 wrote:

I am wondering if, historically, hatching and tricking were used not only as a quick "shorthand" for creating armorials and rendering arms as George stated above, but is it possible heralds used this for craftsman and artisans who simply could not read and, therefore, could not make use of a blazon?


It is my opinion that tricking has been a sort of short hand for heralds too busy to draw a full colour illustration or a means for the frugal herald to save money on coloured pigments. It could also be that tricking was used to communicate blazon to glass stainers, weavers, embroiderers, wood carvers and other craftsmen who might be commissioned to make coloured heraldic bearing in various materials.

 

It is my opinion that the artificial colouring system which we now use, developed by Fr. Silvester Petra Sancta, published in 1638 was conceived to allow the printer of books and newspapers to communicate colour in a black and white medium. Other systems of hatching were developed almost a half century before Fr. Petra Sancta mainly in present day Belgium but these systems were not accepted universally.

 

 
Daniel C. Boyer
 
Avatar
 
 
Daniel C. Boyer
Total Posts:  1104
Joined  16-03-2005
 
 
 
22 September 2007 10:14
 

Joseph McMillan;49962 wrote:

If I’m taking notes on a particular coat of arms, I’d much rather write "Or" with a line pointing to the field and "Sa" pointing to the rudely sketched lion rather than sitting there for fifteen minutes stippling little dots and drawing criss-cross lines.


I’m in complete agreement with this to the extent I can’t see how anyone would disagree with it.

 
David Pritchard
 
Avatar
 
 
David Pritchard
Total Posts:  2058
Joined  26-01-2007
 
 
 
22 September 2007 17:10
 

<div class=“bbcode_center” >
A chart illustrating the various systems of hatching that developed in the seventeenth century.
</div>

<div class=“bbcode_center” >
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8118/vonalkzsirendszerekol3.png
</div>

 

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
Avatar
 
 
Michael F. McCartney
Total Posts:  3535
Joined  24-05-2004
 
 
 
24 September 2007 21:14
 

David’s chart is inter alia, a useful reminder that we can’t always assume that our predecessors followed, or ever heard of, the conventions we now take for granted.

There was a nice article on hatching (which the author referred to as "holystone shading" - somewhat tongue in cheek) in a recent edition of the Double Tressure, the annual publication of the Heraldry Society of Scotland.  One of the relatively modern variations—which at least keeps the Petra Sancta system as to which color is which!—uses the shading very sparingly around the edges of a charge, rather than blanketing the entire available space.  IMO a useful & attractive compromise.

 
David Pritchard
 
Avatar
 
 
David Pritchard
Total Posts:  2058
Joined  26-01-2007
 
 
 
24 September 2007 21:51
 

<div class=“bbcode_center” >
Here is another useful chart showing national variants of the of the Petra Sancta system:
</div>

<div class=“bbcode_center” >
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/396/850pxnemheraldikussznekgh8.png
</div>

 

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
Avatar
 
 
Michael F. McCartney
Total Posts:  3535
Joined  24-05-2004
 
 
 
25 September 2007 15:29
 

Interesting variations, but IMO way too much of a good thing!  IMO hatching is useful when it is both tastefully restrained and the hatching patterns are simple enough to instantaneously recognize without a chart.  I knew I was hooked on heraldry when, inter alia, I could "see" the colors of the hatching in my mind’s eye—i.e. I experienced paly hatching as red, barry hatching as blue, etc.  (Of course I know its a self-taught illusion, but it does work, for me at least.  That is, when its not drowned out by "my voices…" smile  And of course it only works if the number of patterns is such that I can keep them straight in my mind without consciously thinking about it!