[antir-heralds] Order of the Pierrot Mask

[chrisact at qwickconnect.net]

Deloris Booker wrote:
 > On 3-Apr-07, at 12:06 PM, Suzanne Jacquest wrote:
 >
 >>Hello again!
 >>
 >>  I'd like to get people's opinion/conflict check on yet another
 >>Order name for Avacal:
 >>
 >>  Order of the Pierrot Mask
 >>
 >>  This is a specific heraldic charge.... a mask with a huge nose:
 >>  An Award for persona development.
 >>
 >>  I found no conflicts myself.
 >>
 >>  Thanks so much
 >>
 >>  Annys Bradwardyn
 >>  Sanguinaris Herald
 >>  Avacal
 >
> Umm, again.
> 
> Is the "Pierrot" character an identifiably medieval comic character?   
> I'm no expert, by a long shot, but I have the feeling that that  
> character is late renaissance or Baroque in origin.  Can anybody give  
> a citation for its' appearance?
> And why use a character from the stage to symbolize persona  
> development, anyway? Stage clowns are usually either sad victims or  
> mean bullies, depending on >their< personas.
> 
> Aldreada

According to the online OED, the etymology of the word is:
 >>> [< French pierrot (1691 as the name of the character Pierrot,
 >>> 1748 in sense ‘a kind of close-fitting jacket or bodice worn
 >>> by women’, 1820 in sense ‘ruff with large folds’) < Pierrot,
 >>> pet-form of the male forename Pierre (see PETER n.).]

So no, the character is definitely not medieval.

BTW, the OED's definition is:

 >>> 1. A stock character in French pantomime, usually
 >>> played as a sentimental lovesick youth with a whitened face,
 >>> characteristically dressed in a loose white costume with a
 >>> neck ruff, and a high hat with a wide floppy brim. More
 >>> generally (usu. in form pierrot): a comic or musical entertainer
 >>> or other character dressed in the style of Pierrot.

So, I'm wondering about that "mask with a huge nose." Doesn't sound like this 
character wears a mask at all. Also, I wonder about it as a charge---are you 
sure it *is* a known charge, and is in period?

Hope to have helped,


~~Basil Dragonstrike

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