[Illustration: FIG. 15. Shield with rounded corners (_c._ 1259) of Richard earl of Cornwall in the quire of Westminster abbey church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16. Shields of English work from the tomb of William earl of Pembroke (_ob._ 1296) in Westminster abbey church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17. Seal of Hugh Bardolf showing shield with square corners. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18. Seal and counterseal of Simon lord of Montagu, with shield of unusual form supported by two bearded men and surmounted by the castle of Corfe, of which Simon became governor in 1298. The quadrangular signet displays a griffin. From the Barons' Letter.]
[Illustration: FIG. 19. Shield of ornate form, from a brass at Stoke Poges, Bucks, 1476.]
[Illustration: FIG. 20. Head of a doorway, now in Norwich Guildhall, with arms of King Henry VIII, the City of Norwich, and the Goldsmiths' Company.]
[Illustration: PLATE V.--Examples of shaped shields.
A John Tiptoft earl of Worcester, 1449. B William Herbert earl of Huntingdon, 1479.
B John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk and earl marshal, 1442.
In the simpler forms the field of a shield in painted representations is invariably shown flat; but in carvings, and occasionally on seals, a slight convexity, or even concavity, is often met with, the artistic advantages of which it is unnecessary to enlarge upon. In some of the later ornate forms, like those described above, the incurved or engrailed edge is accompanied by a field worked with a series of ridges and furrows (figs. 21 and 23). The effect of this may be good, but there is a danger of carrying it to excess and so injuring the appearance of the charges. If the shield be well covered by the bearings on it, it is generally better to use one of simple form than one with an irregular outline and ridged surface; but there is, of course, no reason why both forms should not be used concurrently in architectural or other works, as they sometimes were of old.
[Illustration: FIG. 21. Shield with engrailed edges (_c._ 1520), from the chantry chapel of abbot Thomas Ramryge in St. Albans abbey church.]
The same principle as the ridging of a shield to relieve the plain surface was also applied to the ordinaries upon it. An early example may be seen upon the tomb of queen Eleanor at Westminster, which has the bends in the shields of Ponthieu ridged along the middle line. The shield borne by Brian FitzAlan (_ob._ 1302) in his effigy at Bedale has the alternate bars of his arms (_barry of eight pieces gold and gules_) treated in the same way. Another instance may be seen on the effigy of Sir Richard Whatton (_c._ 1325) at Whatton, Notts, in which a bend, though charged, is ridged. The shields on the tomb of Guy lord Bryen (_ob._ 1390) at Tewkesbury (fig. 22) furnish typical later examples, while during the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries instances are as common as the curved and ridged shields described above, especially as regards crosses and saltires, as at St. Albans, the George Inn at Glastonbury (fig. 23), and elsewhere.