Collars of Orders of Knighthood & Livery Collars

I’ve attempted to organize these collars (and depictions of collars) into groups, where multiple versions of the same sort of collar appear.

(These are sometimes referred to as “chains of estate,” especially when they relate to a specific office, rather than the affiliation or fealty implied in a livery collar, or the membership in an order of knighthood implied in the wearing of a collar of an order of knighthood.)

COLLARS OF ESSES (initially a livery collar associated with John of Gaunt and his followers; later, a badge of the house of Lancaster)

• Effigy of Sir John Swinford, d. 1371
• Brass of Sir Thomas Burton, d. 1381
• Effigy of Matilda Stafford, 1391
• Effigy of Robert Goushill, 1403
• Brass of Sir William Bagot and his wife, 1407
• Brass of Walter Cookesey, 1407
• Effigies of Sir William Wilcote (1411) and his wife Lady Elizabeth Blackett (d. 1445)
• Brass of John Peryent and Joan Peryent, 1415
• Brass of The Harcourt knights, 1415
• Effigy of Thomas Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, 1415
• Effigy of Sir Edmund de Thorpe, d. 1417
• Brass of Thomas, Lord Camoys, and his wife, d. 1421
• Brass of Sir John Segrave (detail), c. 1425
• Effigies of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, and his wives Margaret Stanford and Johanna Beaufort, c. 1425
• Brass of Sir Thomas Woodville, 1430
• Effigy of Joan of Navarre, d. 1437
• Effigy of Joan Beaufort, 1440
• Effigy of Sir Robert Grushill, 1440
• Silver collar, c. 1440-1450
• John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, d. 1444
• Portrait of Edward Grimston by Petrus Christus, 1446
• Sir John Cokayne, 1447
• Effigy of Sir Humphrey Stafford, d. 1450
It[em] I wil bothe my colers of silvir, the Kyng’s lyfre, be sold, and the money disposid in almesse for Edmu[n]d Tabowre soulwe and his frendys, to recompese broke silvir I ahd of his to oon of the colerys and othir things with othir stuff be syde whiche I took to my owne vse.

From the Will of John Baret of Bury, 1463;
the roof of the lady chapel of the Church of St. Mary, Bury St. Edmunds, featured the monogram of John Baret and a collar of esses

• Sir John Bradbourne, d. 1483
• Effigy of Roger Tocotes, d. 1492
• Silver collar, c. 1500?
• Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527; the Frick notes, “The chain More wears in this portrait is an emblem of service to the King, not of any specific office.”
• A news story about a gold collar of esses made in the 1540s and presented to Edward Montagu, Lord Chief Justice, by Henry VIII; more details at Christie's website ("A gold livery collar, formerly the chain of office for the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas")

YORKIST COLLARS (a chain of roses and suns; pendants signify different affiliations)

• Brass of Sir John Phelip, 1415
• Brass of the Harcourt knights, 1415
• Brass of John Leventhorpe, 1433
• Sir John Septvans (detail), d. 1458
• Effigy of William Martyn, c. 1455
• Incised slab of Robert Barley, 1467
• Effigy thought to be that of Sir Hugh de Badlesemere (or possibly George, Duke of Clarence?)
• Sir John Donne and Lady Elizabeth Donne in the center panel of The Donne Triptych by Hans Memling, c. 1475
• Brass of Sir John Say, 1478
• Brass of Sir Anthony Grey, 1480
• Effigy of Ralph Fitzherbert, d. 1485; see also details of boar pendant
• Effigy of Thomas Cokayne (collar detail), d. 1488
• Brass of Margaret, wife of Nicholas Gaynesford, d. 1503

COLLARS OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER (founded by Edward III, King of England, in the mid-14th century; the collar usually has alternating knots and garters [surrounding roses], and the pendant is St. George slaying the dragon)

• Two knights of the garter (British Library Stowe 594, fol. 4)
• Portrait of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, c. 1516 (also here)
• Portrait of Sir Henry Guildford by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527
• Portrait of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539-1540
• Portrait of Edward Fiennes de Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, c. 1560-1565
• Portrait of Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague by Hans Eworth, 1569
• Portrait of Edward Fiennes de Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, c. 1575
• Portrait of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, c. 1575
• Portrait of Edward Fiennes de Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, 1584
• Portrait of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, after 1585
• Procession of the Knights of the Garter, Part I and Part II, engraved by Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, 1576
• Miniature portrait of Sir Christopher Hatton by Nicholas Hilliard, 1588
• Portrait of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, c. 1598
• Portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, c. 1603
• Portrait of James I by John de Critz, c. 1606
• Garter Insignia of the Earl of Northampton, made in London in 1628-1629 (British Museum 1980,0201.1, 1980,0201.2, 1980,0201.3, 1980,0201.4); the British Museum identifies it as the earliest complete set to survive in England
• Garter Collar and Great George; collar made c. 1685, George made in 1661

COLLARS OF THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE (founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430; the collar usually has alternating flints & steels and sparks, and the pendant is a golden fleece)

• Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy by Jan van Eyck, c. 1435
• Presentation scene, Chroniques du Hainaut, 1447-1448
• Presentation scene, Chronographia (BNF Fr. 9002, fol. I), mid-15th century
• Presentation scene, La geste ou histore du noble roy Alixandre, roy de Macedonne (BNF Fr. 9342, fol. 5r), mid-15th century
• Presentation scene, Directorium ad passagium faciendum/Voyage to Outremer (BNF Fr. 9087, fol. 1), third quarter of the 15th century
• Presentation scene, The History of Troy (BNF Fr. 59, fol. A), second half of the 15th century
• Portrait of Philip the Good by Rogier van der Weyden, after 1450
• Portrait of Charles the Bold by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1460
• Portrait of Anthony of Burgundy by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1461
• Portrait of Anthony of Burgundy by Hans Memling, 1467-1470
• Portrait of Philip the Fair, Duke of Burgundy, c. 1500
• Portrait of Maximilian I in golden armor by Bernahard Strigel, c. 1500
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I by Ambrosio de’ Predis, 1502
• Portrait of Philip the Fair, c. 1505
• The Stoneleigh Triptych, c. 1506 (Charles I at center)
• The arms of Ferdinand I of Hapsburg (BNF Fr. 616, fol. 4)
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I by Joos van Cleve, c. 1508-1509
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian by Bernhard Strigel, c. 1510-1515
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian by Bernhard Strigel, c. 1510-1515
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian and his family by Bernhard Strigel, 1516
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian by Albrecht Dürer, c. 1518
• Portrait of Charles V by Bernaert van Orley, 1519-1520
• Portrait of Philip the Good by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1520
• Portrait of Christian II, King of Denmark, by Jan Gossaert, c. 1523
• Portrait of Emperor Maximilian I by Bernhard Strigel
• Portrait of Maximilian I by Albrecht Dürer, c. 1530
• Portrait of Charles V by Christoph Amberger, c. 1532
• Portrait of Charles V by Jacob Seisenegger, 1532
• Portrait of Charles V by Titian, 1532-1533
• Portrait of Charles V by Titian, 1548
• Duke Philip of Burgundy, Emperor Maximilian I, King Philip of Spain and Portugal, Emperor Charles V, Duke Charles of Burgundy, and Archduke Philip of Austria, the Book of the Order of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Bayerische Statsbibliothek Cod. icon. 285), c. 1586

COLLARS OF THE ORDER OF SAINT MICHAEL (founded by Louis XI of France in 1469; the collar usually has alternating knots and cockleshells, and the pendant shows the Archangel Michael stabbing the serpent)

• Portrait of Louis XI
• Portrait of René, Duke of Anjou, on the Matheron Diptych by Nicolas Froment, 1474
• The arms of France, The Vigils of Charles VII (BNF Fr. 5054, fol. Bv), 1484
• Portrait of Charles VIII
• Portrait of Louis XII
• The (fictive) arms of François I, De casibus (BNF Fr. 128, fol. 1v), 15th-16th century
• Collar of the Order of Saint Michael on the portrait of Charles d'Amboise by Andrea Solari, c. 1507
• Portrait of Guillaume de Montmorency, c. 1525-1531
• Recueil des Rois de France (BNF Fr. 2848), c. 1555-1566: The arms of France (fol. Av), Louis XI (fol. 147r), Charles VIII (fol. 148v), François I (fol. 150r), François I (fol. 150v), and the arms of France (fol. 290r)
• The arms of France, Preces (BNF Latin 10564, fol. 25v), 1582
• The arms of France, Versus ad Henricum (BNF Coslin 373, fol. 3a), 1596

MISCELLANEOUS LIVERY COLLARS

• Richard II on the left panel of the Wilton Diptych, c. 1395-1399
  A collar of broomcods, or cosses de geneste, being the livery collar of the King of France (Richard married Isabella of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France, in 1396). The pendant is a white hart, Richard's personal badge; note that Mary and the angels on the right panel all wear the white harts as well.
• Portrait of a man with the badges of the Order of Our Lady of the Swan, and the Fish and Falcon jousting company, by Hans Baldung Grien, 1514