Jun-09 Issue (Page 1) - The Heraldry Society

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14 Amongst the London Guilds the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries is the only one to feature a rhinoceros in its arms. In the grant of 1617 the blazon is: Arms: Azure Apollo the inventor of physic proper with his head radiant holding in his left hand a bow and in his right hand an arrow Or supplanting a serpent Argent. Crest: A rhinoceros proper. Supporters: Two unicorns Or armed and unguled Argent. To my knowledge, no one has yet found any documentation to explain why the rhinoceros was chosen by the heralds to be the crest in the Society’s coat of arms. The rhinoceros featured in the arms is Durer’s rhino of 1515. There is an original engraving framed and on display at Apothecaries Hall on the Landing. This has a second and much smaller horn protruding from between its shoulder blades on its back which is often portrayed when the arms are drawn. Durer had not seen the living animal and worked from someone else's description of it - hence this erroneous second horn. The following excerpt from T H Clarke’s book The Rhinoceros from Durer to Stubbs 1515- 1799 (1986) is of note:”We know that Durer shared with many of his age in the fascination of the exotic; and we know of his close relationship with the THE APOTHECARIES ARMS armourers of Nuremberg. These two facts are answer enough as to why he made the woodcut. For the exotic, Durer wrote in his notebook after his journey to the Netherlands in 1520-1, where he saw for himself a group of Mexican works of art, that they were all much fairer to behold than any marvel. Given the armoured nature of Durer’s rhino and the fact that heraldry originated with armoured knights it is tempting to conjecture that the image may thus have come to the notice of the College of Arms and was then chosen as a novelty exotic creature. Exotic beasts and oriental designs (eg chinoiserie) were in vogue in the decorative arts from the beginning of the 16th century onwards as a result of travels and voyages to the then ìweird E-mail the editor at gazette@theheraldrysociety.com and wonderfulî foreign parts of the globe. They were frequently used in designs for all sorts of household and other items such as household furniture and clocks. Similarly, the association with the perceived medicinal properties of the rhino horn may have influenced the herald responsible for designing the Society’s arms. It may also have been felt appropriate to blur the distinction between rhino horns and unicorn horns (in truth, narwhal tusks or teeth). This is because the two supporters in the Society’s armorial bearings are unicorns, James VI’s favoured beasts in his Scottish royal arms which he brought south on becoming James I, and both types of horns were considered useful as drugs when finely ground. The first live rhino to be seen in London was at the Belle Sauvage Inn on Ludgate Hill in 1684 - only a bow's arrow from Apothecaries' Hall. There is the suggestion that Durer's rhino looks armoured because the description he used was of an animal that was actually dressed in armour, and that this is also why there is a "second horn". The story and this theory is expounded in Glynis Ridley's book entitled “Clara's Grand Tour. Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth- Century Europe” (2004). The Indian rhino in question (not Clara, who was a different
hino altogether) "arrived in the Tagus Estuary in May 1515", a gift from Muzafar II, ruler of Gujarat, to Alfonso d'Albuquerque, Governor of Portugal's Indian territories who in turn presented it to his king, Manuel, who then planned to give it to Pope Leo X. Before he did so, "Manuel could not resist testing the truth of Pliny's assertion that the rhinoceros and the elephant were mortal enemies." Durer’s Rhino When combat was arranged Fellows Adrian Ailes Drusilla Armitage Gerard Brault Ralph Brocklebank John Campbell-Kease Hubert Chesshyre John Ferguson Stephen Friar John George Cecil Humphery-Smith Anthony Ll. Jones Keith Lovell Kenneth Mourin Edward Rothwell Michael Siddons Stephen Slater Pete Taylor Anthony Wood Thomas Woodcock the rhino failed to attack the elephant and the elephant retreated to a safe distance. The rhino was then shipped out of Lisbon in December 1515 where "its likeness had already been sketched" and "reports made of its appearance on a stopover near Marseilles". In Marseilles, Francis I of France and his queen also inspected it and "a mock-battle was staged around it for royal entertainment, with oranges taking the place of cannonballs." Ridley agrees that: "It is generally agreed that Durer worked from a printed account of the animal that had found its way into the Nuremberg press," but suggests that Durer's rhino "with a dorsal horn emerging from the clearly delineated plates of the hide" was so drawn because it THE SOCIETY’S FELLOWSHIP Honorary Fellows Rev Dr John Andrew Sir Robert Balchin Graham Beck David Butterworth Mrs Ann Buttimore Ian Campbell Mrs Pat Campbell-Kease Patrick Cracroft-Brennan Martin J Davies Adrian de Redman Mrs Ann Esslemont Peter Esslemont Peter Field Mrs Muriel Gardner Peter Giles Malcolm Golin A H Hamilton-Hopkins Robert Harrison Mrs Martine Hodson "had been encased in armour presented as part of Muzafar's gift to Albuquerque". She thinks that the horn could have been part of the armour, like a pommel, similar to suits of horse armour from the same period. I think this is highly unlikely, myself, as the animal would have been encased for 7 months. Why would Muzafar have arranged this when neither he nor Albuquerque had any intention of making the beast fight an elephant? And if it had been wearing armour, why didn't the French use cannonballs?! In a sad twist of fate the ship went down en route off the Italian coast and the rhino drowned before the Pope set eyes on it. Michael Holmes Kay Holmes David Hopkinson David Hubber Graeme Jebb Bernard Juby Darrel Kennedy J L Kirby Junr. David Krause Colin Lee David Lee Henry Lynn Junr James McCready Ken Porter Major J C Riley Mary Rose Rogers Mrs Nan Taylor Adrian Turner Derrick Walkden Robert Watt. Jonus Basilisk A member has requested that a full list of the Society’s Fellows and Honorary Fellows should be published in the “Gazette”. So here it is! Items for inclusion in the Gazette post to the Editor, The Heraldry Gazette, at the address given on page 1 or by e-mail to gazette@theheraldrysociety.com 15
Page 1 and 2: ISSN 0437 2980 THE HERALDRY THE OFF
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Jun-09 Issue (Page 1) - The Heraldry Society

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