American Notions Of Nobility

HERALDING HERALDRY

Art dealer Guy Stair Sainty of Stair Sainty Mathiessen Gallery gave a talk last week on "Nobility and Heraldry in the American Context." The College of Arms Foundation and the Committee on Heraldry of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society hosted the lecture. The executive director and almoner of the St. George's Society, John Shannon, introduced the program.

Mr. Sainty discussed the relationship between nobility and heraldry. Specifically, he raised questions such as whether arms indicate nobility (answer: sometimes) and whether one must be noble in order to acquire arms (answer: no).

Mr. Sainty explored Americans' deep-seated resistance to titles. He cited Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution, which reads: "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

Mr. Sainty also outlined a constitutional amendment proposed in 1810 that recommended penalizing people who accepted titles by stripping them of citizenship. This was, after all, a country that had fought to break away from a king.

Moving to the subject of heraldic arms, Mr. Sainty said he could find no record of a resident of the 13 colonies applying for a grant of arms before 1776. But, he continued, the 19th century saw the foundation of hereditary societies in America that commemorated past status or achievements of ancestors that "became closely associated with genealogical research" and was "often accompanied by the assumption of arms of families of similar names in Great Britain or the invention of new arms."

American heraldic scholarship has largely focused on English traditions, and given short shrift to Spanish ones. Spain bestowed titles on and confirmed arms for its subjects in what is now America from the middle of the 16th century until the end of Spanish rule in Florida in 1819. It did so through either the Crown in Madrid or through viceroys and governor-generals, Mr. Sainty said.

For all the official resistance to nobility in America, Mr. Sainty gave examples of the lengths to which Americans have gone to acquire of foreign titles, including accepting titles from the impoverished King of Montenegro or the Republic of San Marino, which last bestowed a title in 1976.

Aside from titled Europeans who have immigrated, Mr. Sainty said recently ennobled Americans include those who believe that they descended from Byzantine emperors, tsars of Russia, and grand dukes of Lithuania.

"I have always found it surprising," Mr. Sainty said, "that people are so readily taken in by some strange figure dressed in Ruritanian costume often wearing ludicrous facial hair and forced by circumstances to stay in the local Marriott, and to pay large sums in the belief that he has the power to change their lives by the grant of an imaginary noble title. These persons end up making complete fools of themselves and are usually too embarrassed to take the legal action that would put such charlatans out of business."

Mr. Sainty concluded that "Nobility, for Americans, is demonstrated by conduct rather than birth. But sadly, in a society where manners and courtesy are increasingly rare commodities, even this nobility is at risk of extinction."

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THE POWER OF MUSIC

Teacher Jack Kleinsinger is a retired assistant attorney general of the State of New York. He also produces and directs "Highlights in Jazz," which he describes as "New York City's longest running jazz concert series." His 32nd anniversary concert will take place February 10 at the TriBeCa Performing Arts Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

At a special luncheon February 8 for the National Council for Jewish Women's New York Section, Mr. Kleinsinger will share anecdotes and a video presentation compiled from footage from the last 30 years of his concerts. He will talk about entertainers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller.

Mr. Kleinsinger told the Knickerbocker that Cab Calloway appeared three times at "Highlights in Jazz," twice as a surprise guest. The last time he appeared, late in his life, he came onstage in a wheelchair and wearing white tie and tails, accompanied by his valet.

During performance of the song "Minnie the Moocher," Calloway rose from the wheelchair and danced.

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FIGHT FANS

Many with 25-year-old memories and others who were just children in 1980 braved the biting cold last Thursday to see the quarter century anniversary re-release screening and celebrate the DVD release of "Raging Bull." The Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro boxing classic based on the life of Jake La Motta, who was world middleweight champion from 1949 to 1951.

"Boxing is one of the few sports that is one on one," producer Irwin Winkler said.

John Waters replied, "I wouldn't know, I've never seen a real fight. ... If a physical fight was ever threatened, I would run."

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KNICKKNACKS

Members of the New York Division of the National Society Magna Charta Dames and Barons are scheduled to attend a New York City reception on February 16. The event is hosted by the New York Commandery, Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, in conjunction with the New York Conference of Patriotic and Hereditary Societies.