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Order of the Coral Branch scroll for Jeffry Thorne, awarded on 25 March 2023 by Abran and Anya at Defending the Gate.
Materials: Higgins Ink, gouache, Fine-tec liquid gold on Bristol paper
Script: Secretary hand
Text:
Great Atlantia!
Kingdom whose courts are filled with music
The Singers of Atlantia: singers of joy
take the song, bring forth the timbrel,
the pleasant harp, and the viol.
A King and Queen listen with glad hearts as
Halls fill with laughter and hearts stir with joy
When graced by the songwriting talent
and lyrical voice of Lord Jeffry Thorne
Thus do we Abran and Anya,
King and Queen of Atlantia
do honor him with our
Order of the Coral Branch
and Award him Arms, to wit: [blazon]).
Done this 11th day of February A.S LVII
at Birthday and Investiture in
Our barony of Bright Hills.
DESIGN AND CALLIGRAPHY
DESIGN AND CALLIGRAPHY
Since the recipient had a 16th-17th century Puritan persona, I selected the Massachusetts bay charter as my exemplar. This charter, from King Charles I on March 4, 1629, specifically authorized a group of non-separatist Puritans to establish a colony in Massachusetts, during a period of high hostility towards Puritans. I thought the historical context of this document fitting, since the bellicose background of the period made more sense given that the recipient also had an interest in fencing. From a design perspective, I liked that it had nice big cadels and calligraphic elements that I could focus on.
The calligraphy of the piece appeared like a fancy version of Secretary Hand, which was in common use among scriveners and scribes during the 16th century. Instead of following the hand in the exemplar, I opted to follow the one in David Harris' Art of Calligraphy for ease.
I wrote custom text for this scroll, which I wanted to emphasize the recipient's skill in singing. My exemplar was the choral song "Sing Joyfully" written by William Byrd (1540–1623), based on Psalm 81:2. Beyond alluding well to song and music, I found some apocryphal references to it being listed in Puritan prayer books.
https://regenerationandrepentance.wordpress.com/tag/the-psalms-in-history-and-biography/
"Sing joyfully to God our strength; sing loud unto the God of Jacob!
Take the song, bring forth the timbrel, the pleasant harp, and the viol."
ILLUMINATION AND DETAIL
ILLUMINATION AND DETAIL
Because the cadel was meant to be a major design element, I wanted it as gilded and highlighted as possible, and kept the other embellishments fairly minimal. I used as my exemplar the Stationers' Company charter of 1557, issued by King Charles
https://www.stationers.org/news/features/the-stationers-company-charter
My version here. I didn't care for the internal portrait of the cadel, which I adapted to better reflect the recipient's interests (below)
As the recipient is a singer and songwriter, I opted to have diapered notes inside the cadel and drew them based on a passage from the Leiden choirbook, which recorded polyphonic music from the Franco Flemish school in the mid 16th century.
My version, adapted from the original. Sadly, I do not know what song the original notes are meant to portray, and made some adjustments in my depiction so that the notes would fit and looked pleasing
More embellishments from the Stationers' Charter, which I applied to the Coral Branch award. I liked the blue and red strings that underlay and overlap the gilding, since I'm using both of those as major colors in my piece.
My version, with some gilded acanthus leaves as framing. In hindsight, I'd wished I curved the acanthus branches or added extra embellishments to reduce the white space around the Coral Branch.
FINAL DETAILS
FINAL DETAILS
I was grateful that I was able to get a lot of details about the recipient as part of my research, which let me further personalize the scroll with some Easter Eggs
The recipient is fond of bats, so I threw a couple in the header nested among the flowers
Starfleet insignia right above the Coral Branch award
I smudged some ink while doing the calligraphy, and disguised it by adding a squirrel illustration holding the smudged letter. The squirrel is part of my Arms, so this is a bit of a self-insert, too.
FINISHED PIECE
FINISHED PIECE
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