ARMORIAL BEARINGS OF DAVID ROBERT WOOTEN
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The Armorial Bearings of
David Robert Wooten were Registered with
The American College of Heraldry on 6 November 1992 under Number 1073.
Azure, fretty raguly Or. Above the Shield is placed a Helmet with a Mantling Azure doubled Or, and on a Wreath Or and Azure is set for Crest, a satyr Sanguine, wreathed with olive leaves Proper, with bat's wings to the sides Azure, and in an Escrol below the Shield this Motto: “Melior Nullo Nullus Melior” (I am better than no man, but no man is my better).
They were also received in a Certificacion de Armas from the Cronista Rey de Armas under Protocolo:3/1995; Folios:149-151, and Confirmed by the Ministerio de Justicia, Madrid, Kingdom of Spain.
Blazon: En campo de azur (azul), una celosía ecotada, de oro. Va timbrado el escudo de armas de un casco de acero bruñido, con bordura y grilletas de oro, claveteado de lo mismo, forrado de gules (rojo), sumado de un burelete trenzado de azur (azul) y oro del que salen lambrequines de los mismos esmaltes y sumado a su vez de una cabeza de satiro, sanguino, barbado al natural, orejado con alas de murciélago, de azur (azul) y sumado de una corona de hojas de olivo, de sinople (verde). Divisa: En cinta de plata con letras de sable (negro): "MELIOR NULLO NULLUS MELIOR".
Later the Arms were Registered by the St. Andrew Principal Herald Master of the Collegium Heraldicum Russiae under Number 167.
Всем и каждому чрез сию Гербовую Грамоту да будет известно и ведомо, что Русская Геральдическая
Коллегия внесла в свой Гербовый Матрикул сей герб, владельцем коего является
Кавалер Дэвид Роберт Вутен
А именно: В лазуревом щите золотая косая сучковатая решетка (фрет). Щит увенчан рыцарским
шлемом с лазуревым намётом, подбитым золотом. Клейнод: на ливрейном бурелете голова сатира с
оливковым венком и лазуревыми перепончатыми крыльями от висков. Девиз на ленте внизу:
Melior Nullo Nullus Melior - «Я не лучше других, но и никто не лучше меня».
Дано в Москве 9-го июля 1994 г. под номером 167.
Командор Кавалер
Валерий Павлович Егоров
Герольдмейстер Принципал
Св. Андрея Первозванного, РГК
Most recently, the Arms were registered with Burke's International Register of Arms, 29th January 2006. Registration No. 0009.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE "EVOLUTION" OF THESE ARMORIAL BEARINGS
As you might imagine, in my current position as Executive Director of The American College of Heraldry, I receive many requests from individuals on resources for ways to display their armorial bearings, whether it’s an artist to paint them, or an embroiderer to stitch them onto something, or, most often, where they can have their achievement engraved on a ring, cuff links, etc.
Some years ago I had my signet ring done by Carl Lemke (who I would NOT recommend as he is no longer reliable - in fact, I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against him [along with others who have not received long overdue merchandise from him] - I can't emphasize this strongly enough - while his work may be very good - though not better than Dexter Seal Engraving [see below], his unbelievably poor service and lack of communication outweigh any savings on the work done). I have always wanted something a bit more unique, and I felt that the ring I had did not exactly reflect the image I originally intended. So, I spent a great deal of time sourcing all possible heraldic engravers worldwide, providing them with the specifications of the ring size I wanted, as well as a drawing of EXACTLY what I wanted on the table of the ring. I can tell you that prices for such a project ranged anywhere from $1000 to well over $3000 – all for the same type and size of ring, and amount of gold.
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The company I landed upon, after numerous phone calls and emails – explaining in nauseously excruciating detail how precisely the final ring had to match my drawing – was Dexter Seal Engraving – www.familysealrings.com. The gentleman I dealt with was Simon Wright, and he went above and beyond to explain their process, and gave me assurances (backed with a guarantee) that what they carved would be what I depicted, as exactly
as humanly possible. I jumped in with both feet, and entrusted my money and ring to his artisans’ capable hands.
I asked Simon to take some photographs of the process from start to finish, so I could see how they achieved the end result. You can see the results here:
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CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE
I am OVERWHELMINGLY pleased to advise that the pictures show a ring that PERFECTLY matches the drawing I sent, and thus may be the best 3-dimensional depiction of my crest I have yet seen. I provided them with a rather unique layout (I superimposed the crest of my achievement over the fretty raguly of the shield). I told the folks at Dexter that I wanted the final product to match my drawing EXACTLY - something that is very difficult to do when an artisan carves something by hand - especially with the geometric complexity of a fretty raguly "background."
Granted, my design is not intended to be a sealing ring – it was intended to be an “abstract” version of my arms, boiled down to the crest and shield. It may not be to your taste, but imagine that if they can do something “outside the box” like this for me, they would be eminently capable of handling a more traditional armorial achievement for you.
I’m not making anything off this extended “advertisement” – I just know that many of you have similar interest and concerns about getting a quality piece of jewelry to display your armorial bearings. And the good thing about Dexter is that they are at the lower, rather than the upper, end of the price range. Of course, each piece is different, and complexity = additional $$ (or £s), but they are more than fair, and in fact do a superior job for a fraction of what others would charge for the same work.
I would urge you to contact Simon Wright directly if you are interested in having this sort of work done. His direct contact information is shown below, along with their website, which I urge you to visit to see the wide variety of products they can produce. Tell him I sent you. Tell your friends about their services as well.
Simon Wright.
Dexter Seal Engraving, Dexters, Cherry Orchard, Tenterden, Kent. TN30 7LP. United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1580 765616 Tel # from the USA 011 44 1580 765616 Fax: +44 (0) 1580 765594
E-mail : dexter@sealengraving.com
Website: www.familysealrings.com
EX LIBRIS
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The Armorial Ex Libris shown above left was the first designed by the armiger, with the original arms rendered by Heraldic Artist Dennis Endean Ivall. Appearing at the top to the left and right of the arms, respectively, are the Badge of The Niadh Nask (Noble Confraternity of the Golden Chain) and the Badge of the Optime Merenti Niadh Nask.
The more recent Armorial Ex Libris shown in color at center was designed by the armiger, and incorporates the armiger's motto in Gaelic encircling the arms. On either side of the crest appear the Breast Stars of The Niadh Nask (Second Division) and the Optime Merenti Niadh Nask.
The most recent bookplate designed by the armiger incorporates a modified version of the original armorial bearings, in a more Gaelic style (as designed by Dennis Ivall), and surrounded by (clockwise from upper right): the badge of Optime Merenti Niadh Nask; the Donal IX Quatercentenary Medal; the Mountcashel Cross awarded to Officers of The Honourable Society of the Irish Brigade; the Arms of The Military & Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem; and the Breast Star of The Niadh Nask (although not in color, which would indicate that of the Second Division). Below the armiger's name and title appears the logo of The Royal Eóghanacht Society.
The designs reflect organizations and titles "granted" from Terence Francis MacCarthy, who in fact was never the true MacCarthy Mór and thus did not have the right to make certain grants of titles. Thus the removal of the baronial coronet and the Niadh Nask Cross from behind the shield would be proper in all instances, as well as the removal of Niadh Nask insignia. Some of the previous versions, despite their relationship to the false MacCarthy Mór, are left in place to show both the artists' talents and the possible diversity of design.
The final design was produced by renowned heraldic artist
Daniel de
Bruin, and illustrates the armiger's crest alone, sans any additional accoutrements. I wanted this to simplify my personal stationery, but also wanted to see how non-traditional a design the artist could produce - and he obviously came through with flying colors on this one. Mr. de Bruin does accept commissions, and his website (which may be seen by clicking
HERE) showcases a wide variety of his color and black & white work.
EVOLUTION OF ARMORIAL BEARINGS
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CLICK ON THE CAPTION TO VIEW DETAILED INFORMATION ON EACH RENDERING. SOME OF THE IMAGES ARE LINKS TO ENLARGED VERSIONS OF THE SMALLER IMAGE. | |||
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** Those items marked with ** indicate where the armiger has modified the original artist's work either through addition of color, or computer enhancement | |||
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1. These armorial bearings were the armiger's first attempt at visualizing his own design. The shield recognizes the unrelated arms of the Broadhurst name (from the armiger's maternal line family name), and represents to me complexity-in-simplicity - a fairly "simple" geometric design "complicated" by the raguly nature of the fretted bars. The crest gives a nod to the Wooton line of Kent which died out in the late 1600's (those original unrelated arms featuring a cross engrailed with the Satyr's head as the crest - sometimes listed as a Saracen's head or Savage's head), which is unfortunately commonly used in illustrating the covers of some minor Wooten/Wootten/Wooton genealogies, when in fact they are entirely unrelated. The motto is of the armiger's own creation - "I am better than no man, but no man is my better," and is of course shown translated to the Latin. 2. These arms were rendered as part of the registration process for The American College of Heraldry by Richard McNamee Crossett. Mr. Crossett recently passed away, and unfortunately was perhaps America's only heraldic artist - hopefully someone will come along to fill the large void created by his absence.
3. On registration of the armiger's armorial bearings with the Collegium Heraldicum Russiae, this rendering was created for that document. You will note that this rendering includes the baronial coronet of a Lord of Munster, as granted by The MacCarthy Mór, Prince of Desmond (see below) . This organization, headed by His Excellency Commander Chevalier Baron Valery Yegorov, Saint Andrew Principal Herald Master, now has a beautifully redone website which may be seen HERE. 4. The arms have also been registered with the Cronista Rey de Armas in the Kingdom of Spain. However, the rendering produced for such grants are commonly of simpler design and thus not meant for "framing" or artistic quality. They are usually meant only for reference to the Grant of Arms itself. The full translated text of the Grant is seen at right. 5. To my mind, Dennis Endean Ivall was perhaps the preeminent heraldic artist of his time, being a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd. His work is unparalleled in style and expertise. His work on Cornish Heraldry and Symbolism is the textbook on the subject. 6. John Ferguson, ARCA, FRSA, SHA, RHS is perhaps best known to students of heraldry as a chief illustrator for Stephen Friar's work, A Dictionary of Heraldry, as well as his collaborative effort with that same author, Basic Heraldry. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, and a founder member of the Society of Heraldic Arts, he has been commissioned for local-government work, corporate bodies and individual patrons both in the UK and abroad. His work shows a flair which elevates him above most heraldic artists operating today, giving each piece its own unique character. Having seen his style in numerous publications and on stationery, I commissioned him to produce this illustration for my own stationery. He may be reached by writing: 46 Reigate Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 0QN, UNITED KINGDOM. 7. Daniel de Bruin is one of the least known (at least in the States) but most creative and unique heraldic craftsman of this century. Based in Holland, Mr. de Bruin's work may be seen in Von Volborth's The Art of Heraldry, which is where I first encountered his work. In fact, I had attempted for months through numerous contacts to locate him for a commission, and only came into contact with him when he contacted me with regard to our mutual membership in The Bookplate Society. We then happily struck up a mutual postal (and later email) correspondence, and I commissioned him to initially produce a simple black & white rendering of my arms, which may be seen hereabove. However, his main expertise lies in creating one-of-a-kind color bookplates (among other things) in a style which is instantly recognizable as his own. Mr. de Bruin does accept commissions, and his website (which may be seen by clicking HERE) showcases a wide variety of his color and black & white work.
8. One option for Niadh Nask would be the neck decoration known as the "Lesser Collar" which may be worn by all Companions, and may be depicted encircling the arms of Second and Third Division Companions. It consists of a red riband entwined with a Golden Chain, from which depends The Niadh Nask Cross as described above. Another option would be to surmount the arms atop The Niadh Nask Cross (the central symbol of all Niadh Nask insignia is a cross pommé Argent, fimbriated Or, [a white cross with enlarged circular ends on each arm, bordered in gold] with an inset Greek cross which is either Red, Green, or Blue, depending upon the Companion’s Division within the Noble Confraternity (First, Second, or Third, respectively). I therefore commissioned Dennis Endean Ivall to once again render my arms, here shown in Black & White with hatching for the Azure and Blue elements in the Shield and the Vert Greek cross (the Green indicating Niadh Nask of the Second Division [noble before 1596]). At his recommendation, I opted for a more "Celtic" design, incorporating an historical helmet of that theme. The illustrations include the coronet of a baronial Lord of Munster as well. 9. Taking a cue from the heraldic bookplate of Captain Thomas Paul Westgaard, Lord of Kileughterco, NN, KLJ, FSA (Scot), GCrLJ, BGS, as illustrated by Dennis Endean Ivall, I redesigned an older bookplate (also appearing in the aforementioned book as Plate 25) to incorporate a circular design rather than the more traditional square/rectangular form. The ex libris still shows the 2 breast stars of Niadh Nask† 2nd Division (left) and Optime Merenti Niadh Nask (right). The background is that of the enlarged shield of the armiger, surmounted by the crest and the baronial coronet of a Lord of Munster. . 10. This design reflects modifications made to previous renditions based on the new evidence presented against Terence Francis McCarthy (The designs reflect organizations and titles "granted" from Terence Francis MacCarthy, who in fact was never the true MacCarthy Mór and thus did not have the right to make certain grants of titles. Thus the removal of the baronial coronet and the Niadh Nask Cross from behind the shield would be proper in all instances, as well as the removal of Niadh Nask insignia. Some of the previous versions, despite their relationship to the false MacCarthy Mór, are left in place to show both the artists' talents and the possible diversity of design). Thus the removal of the baronial coronet and the Niadh Nask Cross from behind the shield. 11. This design was produced by the aforementioned Daniel de Bruin, and illustrates the armiger's crest alone, sans any additional accoutrements. I wanted this to simplify my personal stationery, but also wanted to see how non-traditional a design the artist could produce - and he obviously came through with flying colors on this one. Mr. de Bruin does accept commissions, and his website (which may be seen by clicking HERE) showcases a wide variety of his color and black & white work.
12. Coming full circle, I found the need for a re-rendering of my original "traditional" armorial bearings, in the "classic" style, for use in "Established Families News," the bi-annual publication of Established Families in America (now The Ermine Society). Once again I turned to the most reliable and versatile heraldic artist I knew, Dennis Endean Ivall, who was able to produce this version. 13. For a similar purpose, John Ferguson was once again commissioned to produce a "sans coronet version" of my armorial bearings, for use in those publications requiring a "traditional" rendering of arms (as opposed to the somewhat more contemporary/abstract version as produced by Daniel de Bruin). 14. On the recommendation of several acquaintances, as well as some glowing reviews, I contacted the late Don Smith of Heraldic Graphics about rendering his own version of my armorial bearings. His artistic expertise was self-evident, and in concert with an excellent grasp of computer graphics, his work easily transitioned into the 21st century realm of heraldry. His pricing was a mere £28 for the work seen at left, and was MORE than worth the price - this is not merely some "canned" computer program into which stock graphics are pasted - it is quality artwork. 15. I commissioned Andrew Stewart Jamieson to produce a rendering of my arms. Born in 1961, Andrew studied Heraldry, Calligraphy and Manuscript Illumination for three years under one of the great heraldic artists of the 20th century, Anthony Wood. In 1983 Andrew graduated with a First with Honours. Since that time he has worked as a freelance heraldic artist and designer accepting commissions from the College of Arms, The Catholic Church, the Order of Malta, the Military, the City of London, the House of Lords and many corporate and private clients. His work has been published in many books and he also wrote and illustrated the very successful Pitkin Guide, Coats of Arms. As well as producing the traditional work for which he is best known Andrew has been experimenting with more contemporary styles which although look to the mediaeval period for inspiration are also more in tune with 21st Century tastes. In heraldic art as in any art, Andrew believes that the artist should explore and extend the boundaries of their work to avoid rigidity, self repetition and stagnation. He is available for commissions, and may be reached at: 204 Lower Fairmead Road, Yeovil. Somerset BA21 5SS UK, Tel/Fax : (+44) 01935 428351, e-mail : asjheraldica@aol.com. His website may be seen HERE. 16. This version is a computer-enhanced version of the original John Ferguson artwork appearing immediately above it in the table. Through the use of Corel PhotoPaint, the original black & white image was colored, and then bevel and chrome effects were added. 17. This is a 100% computer-generated version of my arms, though not quite in the standard manner expected. While the computer/art skill is quite significant, the crest was rendered affronté, which would usually not be done unless so blazoned. Regardless of this minor issue, their work is quick, quality and reasonable.
18. Susi Galloway is an extremely talented artist of many disciplines, one of which happens to be heraldic paintings. Fascinated by ancient arts she chose a Heraldry Master Painter to teach her the skills of the trade over a period of 4 years. She produces heraldic work in black & white line art, line drawing in flat colors (digital or on paper), line drawing in color, shaded (digital or on paper), and hand painted in oil, acrylics or water colors (on paper or canvas). She also produces handpainted genealogical trees. Her website may be seen HERE. 19. Dudley Bateman began painting armorial achievements in 1981 following his retirement at the age of 51 from the Royal Air Force after nearly 35 years service. Unable to find suitable employment due mainly to few if any jobs and rampant ageism rife at that time, he was obliged to put to use his natural artistic abilities in order to supplement his meagre service pension. An interest in history coupled with an eye for line and colour set him on the road to painting armorial bearings following a visit to Norwich Cathedral with its wealth of armorial achievements. From small beginnings working in a spare bedroom, Dudley now works from home in a custom built studio from where he sends his work all over the world. He is well known in heraldic circles, especially in East Anglia where he resides with his wife Margaret, and carries out work for local councils, university colleges, businesses, clubs etc, as well as for individuals. His work has been featured on three different television stations as well as local and regional newspapers. His website may be seen HERE. 20. Andrew Stewart Jamieson had already produced a black and white line art version of my arms (#15), but when I received his full color painting of roughly the same drawing, I was overwhelmed. This points out the obvious difference between a simple line art drawing and a painting done by one of the world's premier heraldic artists. There is simply no comparison. I highly recommend Andrew's work to anyone wishing to commission a painting of their own armorial bearings. 21. Marco Foppoli creates heraldic illustrations, pedigrees, bookplates, logos for correspondence paper, wines' etiquettes, and every kind of handwork or design that could be distinguished by the elegant presence of a coat of arms. Marco Foppoli also produces ecclesiastical coats of arms and had, for a number of years, enjoyed the honour of Mons. Bruno B. Heim, Papal Nuncio and the celebrated pontificial heraldist who produced the official armorial bearing for Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II in addition to numerous coats of arms for prelates. Mons. Heim described Marco Foppoli as his "pupil in Italy" to whom he had passed on a part of his huge experience in church heraldry. Marco Foppoli belongs to several Italian and foreign historical-heraldic associations, such as the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique, the Heraldry Society of Scotland and the Società Italiana di Studi Araldici. In the 2005 he has been appointed Council member of the Société Suisse d'Héraldique (founded 1891) among the most autoritative international heraldry societies. His works have been reported in several publications in Italy, as well as in Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, United States and New Zealand. Author of more than one essay on history and heraldry, Marco Foppoli works in Brescia. I commissioned Mr. Foppoli primarily due to the uniqueness of his style (just as I did with Daniel de Bruin, whose work is also unique in the field). He produced a black and white version only, and I am thrilled with his singular take on my armorial achievement.
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After many years of agonizing over a final design for a signet
ring, deciding between a full achievement of arms, shield alone, crest and
shield, crest alone, etc., I finally decided upon a simple but appealing design.
With the aid of 
