Symbols, Signs and Signets

Ernst Lehner

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486222417
• eBook ISBN: 9780486141169
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Decorative Arts

Reproducing in historical sequence 1355 signs, seals, and symbols from the simplest drawings of heavenly bodies, through the intricate heraldic devices of the Middle Ages, to modern cattle brands and hobo sign language, this book will be of immense value to the commercial artist and designer. The development of man as an artist and designer is here recorded pictorially by one of the world's foremost experts in the field of graphic art, Ernst Lehner.
This book is divided into 13 sections, each with a separate brief introduction: Symbolic Gods and Deities (Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Germanic, Incan, Aztec, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, etc.); Astronomy and Astrology; Alchemy, Magic, and Mystic (Nordic runes, magic circles, etc.); Church and Religion; Heraldry (coats of arms, badges, etc.); Monsters and Imaginary Figures; Japanese Crests; Marks and Signets (engravers, goldsmiths, armorers, stonemasons, etc.); Watermarks (fourteenth–eighteenth centuries); Printer's Marks (fifteenth–seventeenth centuries); Cattle Brands; and Hobo Signs. All the signs, symbols, and signets are pictured in black and white on strikingly laid out pages, with full explanatory notes for both lay readers and specialists.
Anyone interested in means of communication other than language will find this book fascinating and authoritative. The student and teacher in the graphic arts will find it a practical visual guide through the transformation of simple marks and signs into the complicated emblems of our time.

MARKS & SIGNETS

MARKS AND SIGNETS

PAGE 155

944 OTTOMAN TUGHRA—Seal and Signature of Abdul-Medjid Ibn Mahmud, Sultan of Turkey (1822-1861)

PAGE 159

945 RAMSES II, King of Egypt (1324-1258 B.C.)

946 CLEOPATRA II, Queen of Egypt (69-30 B.C.)

947 SARDANAPALUS I, King of Assyria (668-626 B.C.)

948 XERXES, King of Persia (486-456 B.C.)

PAGE 160

949 Great Seal and Talisman of EMPEROR CHOW SI’ANG, founder of the CH’IN DYNASTY, from which CHINA takes its name (about 215 B.C.)

Forms of Chinese Seals

950 WINE CUP—Pleasure

951 CASH–Wealth

952 A LADY’S EYEBROW–Love

953 YIN TZU

954 YANG TZU

955 CHUAN TZU

PAGE 161

Seals and Signatures of Japanese Artists

956 KUDARA KAWANARI, ink painter (780-853)

957 KINYA RITSUO, lacquer painter (1663-1747)

958 OGATA KOREMOTO KENZAN, potter and porcelain painter (1663-1743)

959 CHOJIRO AMEYA-RAKU, potter (about 1516)

960 MEITSHIO, ink painter (1351-1427)

961 TOYO SESSHU, ink painter, garden architect and poet (1420-1506)

962 SHUGETSU, ink painter ( ? -1520)

963 KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI, painter, illustrator and engraver (1760-1849)

PAGES 162 to 164

Stonemasons

964 to 965 POMPEIAN

966 to 967 GREEK-CRETAN

968 to 971 ROMAN

972 TRANSPORT OF A STONE FIGURE AT NINEVEH

973 to 976 BYZANTIAN

977 to 980 EARLY GOTHIC

981 BRICK MANUFACTURING IN EGYPT

982 to 987 LATE GOTHIC

988 to 991 RENAISSANCE

992 STONEMASONS AT WORK by Hans Weiditz (1532)

PAGES 165 and 166

Merchants

993 DUTCH TRADER by the Master W. With the Key (15th Century)

994 to 997 (14th Century)

998 to 1001 (15th Century)

1002 THE MERCHANT by Jost Amman from “Beschreibung Aller Stände (1568)

1003 to 1006 (16th Century)

1007 to 1010 (17th Century)

1011 to 1014 (18th Century)

PAGE 167

1015 MERCURY AND THE ARTISANS by Hans Sebald Beham (16th Century)

PAGES 168 and 169

Painters

1016 MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, Italian painter, sculptor, architect and poet (1475-1564)

1017 JACOPO PALMA, Italian painter, called Il Giovine (1544-1628)

1018 ANTHONIS VAN DYCK, Dutch painter and engraver, pupil of Peter Paul Rubens (1599-1641)

1019 HERRI DE BLESS, Flemish painter, called Civetta (1480-1550)

1020 ANTONIO ALLEGRI DA CORREGGIO, Italian painter (1494-1534)

1021 GIOVANNI BATTISTA TIEPOLO, Italian painter (1696-1770)

1022 ADRIEN VAN DE VENNE, Dutch painter (1589-1662)

1023 LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, German painter and engraver (1472-1553)

1024 FRANS HALS, Dutch painter (1584-1666)

1025 JONATHAN RICHARDSON, English painter (1665-1745)

1026 JAN VAN DER LYS, Dutch painter (1600-1657)

1027 BAREND VAN BRUSSEL, Flemish painter (1491-1542)

1028 GERARD DE LAIRESSE, Dutch painter (1640-1711)

1029 PIETRO PERRUGINO, Umbrian painter (1446-1523)

1030 VINCENCO CIVERCHIO, Italian painter (1470-1540)

1031 CORNELIUS ENGELBRECHTSEN, Dutch painter (1468-1533)

1032 WENDEL DITTERLEIN, German painter (1550-1599)

1033 LUCAS VAN LEYDEN, Dutch painter (1494-1533)

1034 FRANS FLORIS, Dutch painter and engraver (1516-1570)

PAGE 170

Engravers

1035 ALBRECHT DÜRER, German painter, engraver, sculptor and architect (1471-1528)

1036 MASTER I. B. WITH THE DOVE, Italian engraver (about 1500)

1037 MASTER I. M. VAN ZWOLLE, Dutch engraver (second half of 15th Century)

1038 URS GRAF, Swiss gol...

Table of contents

• DOVER PICTORIAL ARCHIVE SERIES
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• ACKNOWLEDGMENT
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• symbolic gods and deities
• Astronomy & Astrology
• ALCHEMY
• MAGIC & MYSTIC
• CHURCH & RELIGION
• HERALDRY
• Monsters & Imaginary Figures
• Japanese Crests
• MARKS & SIGNETS
• WATERMARKS
• Printer’s Marks
• CATTLE BRANDS
• CONCLUSION
• HOBO SIGNS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY