anvil

It is important that a coat of arms be easily recognised and so everyday objects were frequently used as clearly identifiable charges – tools Boutell’s Heraldry, J.P. Brooke-Little, Warne, (revised Edition) London 1970, P 69 being a common and important example of these, of which the anvil is typical and for meaning we need look no further than the craft of the blacksmith, with which the named family is likely to have been associated with. The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P98 In representation it is drawn in a realistic fashion, one of the few heraldic items to be shown with a certain amount of perspective. A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, J.H. Parker, Oxford, 1894, Entry:Anvil