Supplement to the Journal of the Society of Arts, February 20, 1903. Three-Colour Process. THIRD PRINTING. The Council reserve the right of withholding Journal of the Society of Arts, any of the medals, or of awarding medals of FIRE PREVENTION PRIZES. The Council of the Society of Arts, at the request of the Executive Committee of the International Fire Prevention Exhibition, have decided to offer, out of the funds of the Fothergill Trust, the following prizes at the Exhibition which is to be held at Earl's Court during the current year : For the best chemical fire engines for town use shown at the Exhibition :-One gold medal, two silver medals, and two bronze medals. For the most easily worked long ladders, to reach the sill of a window 80 feet above the level of the pavement, which shall also be capable of being rapidly transported over roads of not more than 25 feet wide, shown at the Exhibition:-One gold medal, two silver medals, and two bronze medals. The medals will be awarded by the Council on the report of the judges appointed by the Executive of the Exhibition. Proceedings of the Society. APPLIED ART SECTION. On Tuesday evening, February 17, 1903; LEWIS FOREMAN DAY, Vice-President of the Society, in the chair. The paper read was HERALDRY IN DECORATION. BY GEORGE W. EVE. The choice of heraldry in decoration as a subject on which to offer suggestions to the Applied Art Section of the Society of Arts is influenced (apart from the necessity of limiting in some measure the scope of heraldic art in general) by the consideration that, as it was in decoration that heraldry found admirable expression from a very early period, its decorative use in the past is now worth study with a view to the satisfactory execution of modern work. Primarily heraldry, no doubt, consisted of the devices which distinguished leaders in the field, but its close connection with the personality of its bearer, whom it represented in a very intimate way, also led to its use in every conceivable form of decoration. In costume, ornament, and furniture, as well as in the hangings of tapestry and in other mural adornments, it became a striking and universal feature of the art work of its time. Owing to this strong personal and allusive quality, the employment of heraldic motives in the decoration of buildings has continued, even down to our own time, to show a more marked degree of excellence than was for a long period present in other forms of heraldic expression. Decorative work was also the direction in which the revival of heraldry, which accompanied the Gothic revival, first showed itself. Perhaps the inherent difficulties of the materials may have suggested the sincerity of the effort to properly employ them. It will not be necessary (even if time allowed) to go very far into the origin of heraldry. For our purpose it began about the 11th century— "that is to say, it began to be used and systematised, more or less, as we know it, but in its essence it must always have existed. The desire to distinguish himself by some visible means seems to have characterised man ever since we know anything about him. Badges are mentioned as the ornaments of kings and chiefs from the earliest historic , times, from that of the Chaldean King, 4000 B.C., onwards. Some of these early personal devices were strangely similar to those with which we are familiar in later times. The figures on the sculptures at Persepolis, for example, have veritable crests on their heads, and these also occur on the heads of the king and his heir apparent in contemporary coins. There may even have been some sort of regulations controlling the use of the various devices, but we may at least be sure that the powers that were took good care that others did not use their badges if they could help it. Artistically, our heraldry from its rise in the 11th century quickly developed a high standard of decorative excellence, flourishing exceedingly, with certain changes of style and method, ; for three hundred years until the middle of the 16th century, when its period of greatest strength and beauty ended, and its decadence began. As a system it seems to have developed in a natural way on the lines of its own necessities, as did its artistic expression in a great measure, but the latter owed much to previous design, and, mainly through the influence of the textiles and other importations (sometimes brought by returning crusaders), helped to perpetuate in the Western world the lions, eagles, and strange and characteristic composite animals of the East. These ancient prototypes of heraldic forms are singularly interesting, and concern us here because they sometimes possess in a marked degree qualities which teach valuable lessons that are applicable to present use. This will be discussed presently. Although at first the medieval draughtsman followed the drawing of his imported or traditional motives with considerable closeness (as in the lions of one of the 13th century MSS. in the British Museum), he soon began to treat them in the way that came to be considered peculiarly heraldic. In thus handling his motives he was entirely himself, and the outcome was the natural result of that splendid sense of design which distinguished him. The style is rightly considered purely heraldic, because it arose from its own heraldic conditions, and was the result of the very sane intention that the thing done should be suited to the use to which it was to be put, viz., to serve as a distinctive badge, which could be seen and easily read at a distance, and, in many cases, when in motion. To this end the object was drawn as large as the containing space would fairly admit, and its form was attenuated so as to allow the ground colour to show through in due proportion, and so effect clearness of definition. Vigorous draughtsmanship also contributed to the splendidly decorative effect that was due to good distri bution, and the fine balance of colour that results from it. Thus the treatment which was suggested by reasons of practical convenience, resulted in an effect of great decorative value which also afforded opportunity for the use of expressive line. It is interesting to contrast this treatment with that of the later renaissance, such as the naturalistic lion by Della Robbia, which would have become an undistinguishable blob at a distance at which the attenuated form would have been quite effective. In a similar way an eagle drawn in the ancient way, with the wing-feathers strongly divided, was at once more distinct and more decorative than its renaissance successor. Another practical consideration, the need of readily repairing the damage caused in action to the actual shield, dictated the flat and simple treatment of much of the painted decoration. A similar simplicity occurs in |