19th century AD. A heater-shaped blue-black glass panel with low-relief moulding to the reverse, border and three feathers each with a scroll to the lower end; possibly representing a 'shield for peace'; supplied with a baroque brass stand. 512 grams total, 24.6cm including stand (9 3/4"). From an old North Country collection; formed between 1970-2000. The design of the present piece recalls strongly the 'shield for peace' attributed to the Black Prince, where it is blazoned 'Sable, three ostrich feathers quilled argent and passing through scrolls of the same, bearing the words 'ich dien',' although the lettering is absent here. The 'shield for peace' was a form of subsidiary heraldic shield used primarily in jousting and other non-military competition in which strict rules of conduct were observed. Examples and references are drawn from France, Poland, England, the Netherlands and Spain among other lands, so the custom was widespread among the intermarried European nobility of the later medieval period.

Fine condition.