THE LION AND THE UNICORN
1828 - 1878
In the context of trade the royal crest signifies: a supplier of goods or services to a member of the royal family; a holder of royal letters patent.
How many royal families, or countries, have upon their crest a large and somewhat lazy cat accompanied by a mythical creature said only to obey a virgin? This page is in celebration of the whimsy of the British, and the imagination of the artists who drew lions and unicorns, decorated crests, surely never dreaming that one or two centuries later their creations would still be viewed.
LION
A large, fierce, tawny, loud-roaring animal of the cat family with tufted tail, the male with shaggy mane.
Any object of interest, especially a famous or conspicuous person much sought after (from the lions once kept in the Tower, one of the sights of London).
UNICORN
A fabulous animal mentioned by ancient Greek and Roman authors as a native of India, with a body like a horse and one straight horn.
In heraldic representation, usually with legs of deer, lion's tail, and straight, spirally-twisted horn.
Definitions: Chambers' & Chancellor's dictionaries.
The crests have been obliterated; the lions, the unicorns, their settings,
are reproduced solely for their charm and beauty.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |