The Grammar of Heraldry/Chapter 12
HATCHMENTS.
Or, as it was formerly written, Atchievements, are lozenge-shaped frames, usually affixed on the outside of a house, at the death of one of the heads of the household; and indicate by the form of the shield and disposition of the charges thereon, the rank to which the possessor was entitled.
Should the deceased person be a bachelor, his hatchment would be blazoned as in Fig. 191.
A spinster, as has been before stated, bears her arms on a lozenge; and her hatchment is farther distinguished from that of a bachelor by a knot of ribbons, which takes the place of a crest. Fig. 192.
Fig. 191.
Fig. 192.
Fig. 193.
On the death of a married man, his arms are impaled with those of his wife, as shown in the annexed diagram. Fig. 193. It will be noticed that the husband’s, which is the dexter side, is black, and the sinister side, white; implying that the widow survives. In the hatchment of a deceased wife this order is reversed, and, instead of a crest, a cherub’s head is usually placed.
A widower’s hatchment is the same as a bachelor’s, except that his late wife’s arms are impaled with his own, while a bachelor’s is always single, or quatered. In the same manner, a widow’s is distinguished from a spinster’s.
A skull over the arms denotes that the deceased person is the last of the family.
In the hatchment of a bishop, the dexter side, or that on which the arms of his see are represented, is white; and the sinister, bearing his own, is black.
The family motto is seldom used on a hatchment; in its place is commonly inscribed some legend of a religious nature, such as, ‘Resurgam,’ ‘In cœlo quies,’ &c.
It is usual to represent the hatchments of esquires and gentlemen without a helmet; but the arms of nobles are always ensigned with their proper mantling and coronet.