Sable (heraldry)

Sable (heraldry)

:"This article describes the heraldic tincture sable. For other uses, see Sable (disambiguation)."

In heraldry, sable is the tincture black, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures, called "colours". In engravings and line drawings, it is sometimes depicted as a region of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or else marked with sa. as an abbreviation.

The name derives from the black fur of the sable, an animal.

Sable is said to represent the following:

* Of jewels, the diamond
* Of heavenly bodies, Saturn
** (The planet Saturn is further associated with the metal lead in traditional alchemical/occultistic lore)

able in Central Europe

Sable is considered a "colour" in British and French heraldry, and contrasts with lighter "metals", argent and Or. However, in the heraldry of Germany, Polish heraldry and other parts of central Europe, sable is not infrequently placed on colour fields. As a result, a sable cross may appear on a red shield, or a sable bird may appear on a blue or a red field, as in the arms of Albania.

In Hungary, for example, one can find examples of sable on gules and azure fields as early as the sixteenth century in the arms of the family Kanizsai (granted in 1519) [cite book
last= Nyulászi-Straub
first= Éva
year=1999
title=Öt évszázad címerei (Wappen aus fünf Jahrhunderten)
location= Szekszárd
publisher= Babits Kiadó
id=ISBN 963-9015-97-0
] : "álló, csücskös talpú tárcsapajzs kék mezejében, lebegő arany saslábon fekete sasszárny, jobbról ezüst félholdtól, balról nyolcágú arany csillagtól kísérve." (That is: "Azure, an eagle's wing sable taloned Or between a decrescent argent and a sun Or.") Another early Hungarian example was granted in 1628 to the family Karomi Bornemisza [cite book
last= Nyulászi-Straub
first= Éva
year=1999
title=Öt évszázad címerei (Wappen aus fünf Jahrhunderten)
location= Szekszárd
publisher= Babits Kiadó
id=ISBN 963-9015-97-0
] : "álló, tojásdad pajzs vágott, felső vörös mezejében jobbra fordult fejű, vágásvonalon álló, koronás fekete sas, az alsó kék mezőben fekete bölényfej, szájában hallall." (That is: "Per fess gules, an eagle displayed sable crowned Or, and azure, a buffalo's head cabossed sable maintaining in its mouth a fish (argent?)").

Polish examples abound as early as the fifteenth century. Józef Szymański [cite book
last= Szymański
first= Józef
year=1993
title= Herbarz: Średniowiecznego Rycerstwa Polskiego
location= Warszawa
publisher= Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
id=ISBN 83-01-09797-3
] includes no fewer than seven examples of sable primary charges on either gules or azure fields out of the approximately 200 shields from this period whose blazons are known. These include the arms of Korwin: "Azure, a raven sable with a circlet or in its beak."; Kownaty: "Gules, a trumpet sable with a cord or, a Passion cross of the same issuing from its opening."; and Słońce: "Gules, a sphere radiant sable, its centre argent.". In addition to the seven major examples, he describes occasional variants for the arms of some ródy which also use sable charges on azure or gules fields.

Sable charges on gules fields also appear in the armory used in Lithuania. This is not surprising, since a significant fraction of Lithuania's coats of arms are of Polish origin [cite book
last= Rimša
first= Edmundas
year= 2005
title= Heraldry: past to present
location= Vilnius
publisher= Versus Aureus
id=ISBN 9955-601-73-6
] , so there is a certain similarity of style. Among these coats are those of Great Žemaitija: "a black bear with an argent chain on its neck on a field gules."

ee also

*Sable (the animal)
*Black

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sable — For other uses, see Sable (disambiguation). Sable Conservation status …   Wikipedia

  • Sable (disambiguation) — Things known as Sable include: * Sable, a fixed blade knife *Sable, a mammal in the mustelid (weasel) family *Mercury Sable, an automobile model *Jon Sable, the fictional mercenary (and comic book title), commonly referred to simply as Sable **… …   Wikipedia

  • sable — [sā′bəl] n. pl. sables or sable [OFr < ML sabelum < MDu sabel < OHG zobel < Russ sobol ] 1. any marten; esp., the stone marten or a darker American species (Martes americana) 2. a) the costly fur or pelt of the sable b) [pl.] a coat,… …   English World dictionary

  • heraldry — heraldist, n. /her euhl dree/, n., pl. heraldries. 1. the science of armorial bearings. 2. the art of blazoning armorial bearings, of settling the rights of persons to bear arms or to use certain bearings, of tracing and recording genealogies, of …   Universalium

  • Heraldry of the Holy Roman Empire — The Quarter Eagle, hand coloured woodcut (c. 1510) by Hans Burgkmair. One rendition of the coat of the country was the Quaternion Eagle printed by David de Negker of Augsburg, after a 1510 woodcut by Hans Burgkmair. It showed a selection of 56… …   Wikipedia

  • Heraldry — The German Hyghalmen Roll was made in the late fifteenth century and illustrates the German practice of repeating themes from the arms in the crest. (See Roll of arms) Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning …   Wikipedia

  • sable — sable1 [ seɪb(ə)l] noun a marten with a short tail and dark brown fur, native to Japan and Siberia. [Martes zibellina.] ↘the fur of the sable. Origin ME: from OFr., in the sense sable fur , from med. L. sabelum, of Slavic origin. sable2 [… …   English new terms dictionary

  • sable — 1. n. 1 a a small brown furred flesh eating mammal, Martes zibellina, of N. Europe and parts of N. Asia, related to the marten. b its skin or fur. 2 a fine paintbrush made of sable fur. Etymology: ME f. OF f. med.L sabelum f. Slav. 2. n. & adj. n …   Useful english dictionary

  • Heraldry of Småland — Småland, is a province of Sweden and at the funeral of Gustav Vasa in 1560 the province was granted its arms. Today there are also county arms that are based on the arms of Småland. Småland Småland The first coat of arms for Småland, granted in… …   Wikipedia

  • sable — /ˈseɪbəl / (say saybuhl) noun 1. a small mammal, Martes zibellina, of the weasel family, Mustelidae, inhabiting taiga regions of Eurasia; valued for its dark brown fur. 2. a marten, especially Martes americana. 3. the fur of the sable. 4. some… …  

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”