Buchinger, Matthias | "Achievement of his Grace, George Duke of Gordon"

Buchinger, Matthias
Fine autograph calligraphic coat of arms of the Duke of Gordon signed ("Matthew Buchinger")

Manuscript on vellum (183 x 145 mm), Edinburgh, 25 April 1723; a very little marginal soiling, laid down on mat board. Matted, framed, and glazed.

This meticulously drawn coat of arms was made for Cosmo George Gordon, the third Duke of Gordon, during Buchinger's initial appearances in Edinburgh. These are the personal arms of the chief of Clan Gordon and are captioned by Buchinger, "Achievement of his Grace, George Duke of Gordon": the shield is quarterly (1st, three boar heads couped; 2nd, three lion heads erased; 3rd, three crescents within a Royal Tressure; 4th, three fraises), supported by two deerhounds; the crest is a stag's head with motto Bydand (Steadfast), and the bottom banner bears the motto Animo non Astutia (Courage not by Craft). Buchinger's initial graphite sketching can be glimpsed in spots beneath his brown-ink overdrawing.

Buchinger's commission for the Gordon arms was evidently secured during the same engagement in which he personalized one of his calligraphic Decalogues for John Thomson.

REFERENCE:
Exemplars, p. 60; Wordplay 61

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.

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