Saturday 9 January 2016

Elephantine coat of arms in Cutler Street, City of London






I spotted this magnificent elephantine coat of arms on the side of an office block on the corner of Cutler Street, London EC3 (it's around Minories), in the neighbourhood that my day job just moved out of.

I'm guessing it's something to do with the Worshipful Company of Cutlers, as suggested by the crossed swords, and that the elephants are something to do with the ivory handles that posh cutlery once had. Although I heard that lower quality ivory stuff like piano keys, in the US at least, tended to be made from hippo's teeth or walrus ivory rather than the quality stuff made out of dead elephants.