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| Family coat of arms carved in wood |
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The MEINHOLD family coat of arms carved in wood
Patrick Damiaens
Heraldic Wood Carver
MEINHOLD Family, Germany
Heraldic wood carving
One of my specialties is the carving of Heraldic family coat of arms and Crests in wood.
To carve a family coat of arms in wood is a bit of a personal challenge for me.
Heraldry is a most interesting subject and I always look forward to taking on new
assignments involving heraldic Coat of Arms.
You learn about interesting people that captivate the imagination, all of whom
have their own fascinating life story or family history. And for me personally
it’s always nice to hear that my craftsmanship and quality are greatly
appreciated.
Every heraldic coat of arms is different. Most of the time, it starts with an
example that serves as a source of inspiration in the form of a drawing, an old
sketch or some photographic material delivered to me by the client.
In some cases it occurs that the design for the family coat of arms is not
entirely suited as the blueprint for the carving of it in wood.
This might be
due to the fact that the design is in a format which is a lot smaller than what
the client had in mind (e.g. a large heraldic panel), in which case the family
coat of arms has to be redesigned. If one were to simply enlarge the small
design, the proportions or the composition of the design would be distorted.
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| Family crest carved in limewood |
Usually
things have to be added to the composition in order to make better use of the
available space. It might also be that there is no logic to how the mantling
was arranged, and it’s entirely possible that the design was never meant to be
carried out in wood. After all, wood has its limitations.
It is equally important that the relief fits the dimensions of the coat of arms.
We always try to resolve these small and sometimes larger issues together with
the client.
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Where does the name come from?
The
today’s family name „Meinhold“ is a modification of the Old High German first
name „maganwalt“, which means as far as power, force and violence and mastery.
As a family name appears for example „Meynold“ already as of 830. But it exists
a multitude of others dialect varieties such as the affectionate form „Meinl“,
„Meinel“ or „Meinelt“, which were hand down as of 1391 and which were
furthermore relevant.
As the
family name Meinhold was originally a first name, it is no wonder that not all
of the 3000 people living today with the same family name „Meinhold“ descended
from the same person. Inversely it is possible, that a name-bearer „Meinel“ is
akin with a name-bearer „Meinhold“.
The considered
family name Meinhold, which can be easily backtracked into the sixteenth
century, is a typical example of the modification of a family name, subject to
time and location.
Like
this, our oldest representative was called Peter Meinel. He was born around
1526 and lived in Tiefenloh next to Neudeck in West Bohemia. One of his
grandchildren, who was born in 1583 in Hochofen near Neudeck (Adam Meinel) is
with a probality bordering on certainty identical with the Adam Meinolt, born
in Neudeck and married in Sosa near Eibenstock in 1608 in Saxony.
Adam's grandchild
Gabriel on the other hand, immigrated from Sosa to Gera (in Thuringia). He was called
from now on Meinhold, like all of his manly descendants today.
Which profession did actually the first Meinhold have?
Peter
Meinel’s son Erasmus Meinel, who was born around 1555, was gamekeeper and merchant
in Hochofen next to Neudeck in Bohemia. So he was a kind of forest supervisor, jar
and tableware seller. His son Adam, who was born 1583 in Hochofen as Adam
Meinel, lived as of 1608 in Sosa as a forger, like many of his descendants. Such
as Adam's grandchild Gabriel Meinhold, who was born in Sosa 1641 and who
administrated the job of blacksmith as of 1670 in Gera. Gabriel's son
Christianus Meinhold, who was born in 1682 in Gera, succeeds to take part of
the middle classes and arrived 1705 as a pharmacist from Gera in Stettin in
Pomerania.
His descendants were since then chemist, clergymen, professors,
teachers or also estate owner. It is eye-catching how often parts of the
Meinhold family were gone to take up residence far away. Nowadays, it is not
possible to say if this was the reason of business or religion (or both). The
Protestant faith, which was already practiced by our ancestor, could be the
leading reason, because of the confessional conflict in the past centuries.
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| Meinhold Family crest |
And the coat of arms?
The coat of arms of
the Pomeranian line of succession was documented for the first time in 1709 by the Stettin pharmacist Christianus Meinhold. Corresponding
to the “90th German genealogical almanac”, it shows an argentiferous anchor in
blue colour near two golden Roses. On
the helmet with a blue-silvered cover, three foliated rose branches with each
one flower. Besides that, the slogan of the Meinhold Family: „faithful and
true!“, which was either the background of the coat of arms or the other way around,
it was derived from it. Because the anchor is a synonym
for fidelit
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HERALDIC WOOD CARVING
Carving a Heraldic Coat of Arms in lime wood.
Different steps.
______________ By patrick Damiaens
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| The heraldic drawing, is placed on to the wood |
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| Modelling of the Mantling |
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| Heraldic wood carving |
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| The carved hemet sign |
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| Left side of the mantling |
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| Heraldic Wood Carving |
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| MEINHOLD family coat of arms carved in wood, detail |
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| The MEINHOLD family coat of arms carved in wood |
Custom-made Family Coat of arms, Heraldry and Crests .
-Coat of Arms carved in wood for Royalty and Nobility , particular family , emblems for clubs, city ,company or organisations...
-They are unique carved and if required painted individual .
You can customize the size, the relief, type of wood ,look and decide in the realization of your family Coat of Arms.
Working from the designs and sketches provided by the client. If necessary , we design a coat of arms for you.
-Each carved Coat of Arms or
Crest that Patrick Damiaens produces is signed, dated, and the final result has the highest quality standards. Each coat of arms is carved
from the finest, oak ,Limewood, or beech.
