Three hares
The three hares (or three rabbits) is a circular motif appearing in sacred sites from East Asia, the Middle East and the churches of Devon, England (as the "Tinners' Rabbits"),[1] and historical synagogues in Europe.[2] It is used as an architectural ornament, a religious symbol, and in other modern works of art[3][4] or a logo for adornment (including tattoos),[5] jewelry, and a coat of arms on an escutcheon.[6][7] It is viewed as a puzzle, a topology problem or a visual challenge, and has been rendered as sculpture, drawing, and painting.
The symbol features three hares or rabbits chasing each other in a circle. Like the triskelion,[8] the triquetra, and their antecedents (e.g., the triple spiral), the symbol of the three hares has a threefold rotational symmetry. Each of the ears is shared by two hares, so that only three ears are shown. Although its meaning is apparently not explained in contemporary written sources from any of the medieval cultures where it is found, it is thought to have a range of symbolic or mystical associations with fertility and the lunar cycle. When used in Christian churches, it is presumed to be a symbol of the Trinity. Its origins and original significance are uncertain, as are the reasons why it appears in such diverse locations.[1]
The Community of 's arms[30] is blazoned as: Azure edged Or three hares passant in triskelion of the second, each sharing each ear with one of the others, in chief a rose argent seeded of the second, in base the same, features three hares. It is said, "The stone with the image of three hares, previously adorned the old village well, now stands beside the town hall."[31] Hasloch is in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany.[32]
Hasloch
Hares and rabbits have appeared as a representation or manifestation of various in many cultures, including: Hittavainen, Finnish god of Hares;[33] Kaltes-Ekwa, Siberian goddess of the moon; Jade Rabbit, maker of medicine on the moon for the Chinese gods, depicted often with a mortar and pestle;[34][35] Ometotchtli (Two Rabbits,) Aztec god of fertility, etc., who led 400 other Rabbit gods known as the Centzon Totochtin; Kalulu, Tumbuka mythology (Central African) Trickster god; and Nanabozho (Great Rabbit,) Ojibway deity, a shape-shifter and a cocreator of the world.[35][36] See generally, Rabbits in the arts.
deities
The hare is rarely used in British ; but "Argent, three hares playing bagpipes gules" belongs to the FitzErcald family of ancient Derbyshire.[39] Parenthetically, in heraldry the "Coney", that is the rabbit, is more common than the hare.[39] Three coneys appear in the crests of the families: Marton, co. Lincoln; Bassingthorpe co. Lincoln; Gillingham co. Norfolk and Cunliffe co. Lancashire.[40]
armory
(St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw) is a Roman Catholic seminary which includes "Three coneys" in its crest. This adornment is from the family coat of arms of William Allen.
Ushaw College
The French crest of the family Pinoteau—dating from the first Baron Pinoteau (1814–1815) and which includes historian (former vice president of the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique)—includes three rabbits.[41][D] See generally, Nobility of the First French Empire.
Hervé Pinoteau
Other coats of arms of English and Irish families have three conies or hares.
[42]
"Three Conies Inn" was the name of a 17th-century inn, and three rabbits feeding was used as a motif on the obverse of its .[43] "The property is believed to date from at least the 17th century; the stone sundial above the former front door shows the date 1622. One of the earliest documented references to the property is an advertisement for the sale of a dwelling in the Northampton Mercury in September 1738. The 1777 Militia List also refers to the 'Three Coneys'".[44]
trade token
The cover art for band AFI's album Decemberunderground features three hares, albeit in a different configuration.
alternative rock
Dunhuang Research Academy (2006). Jinshi Fan. ed. China Dunhuang. Nanjing: Jiangsu Fine Arts Publishing House. 7-5344-2082-2. Photography by Wu Jian, including Caves #305 and #407.
ISBN
Goepper, Roger. (1996) Alchi: Ladakh's Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary: The Sumtsek. London: Serindia Publications. 978-1-57062-240-3. Photos of the three hares on Maitreya's dhoti.
ISBN
Goepper, Roger. The "" in Artibus Asiae, Vol. LIII 1/2 (1993), pp. 111–43.
Great Stupa at Alchi
Dunhuang Research Academy (2005). Wenjie Duan; Fan, Jinshi. ed. 敦煌石窟全集. 1, 再现敦煌. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press (H.K.) Ltd. 962-07-5299-6.
ISBN
Shackle, Eric, Eric Shackle's e-book: Three Hares Share Three Ears.
Simpson, Geoffrey (6 February 2018). The Three Hares: Bloodline. Three Hares Series. Vol. 1 (Illustrated ed.). Canton, Georgia: thewordverve Incorporated. 978-1948225182.
ISBN
: Das Hasensymbol am Dom zu Paderborn, im Kloster Hardehausen, in der Kathedralkirche St. Paulus in Münster und der Klosterkirche Haina. In: Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft 41 (1995), S. 285–29.
Ueckermann, Erhard
Tan Chung, Editor. (1994) Dunhuang Art: Through the Eyes of Duan Wenjie. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. 81-7017-313-2.
ISBN
London: The British Library. ISBN 1-932476-13-X; ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2.
Whitfield, Susan. (2004) The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith.
Xizang Zizhiqu (1991) wenwu guanli weiyuanhui. Guge gucheng (The Site of the Ancient Kingdom). Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, with photos of four hares and other impossible shared-body images.
Guge
Holy Family with Three Hares (1498) Woodcut, 395 x 285 mm Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe.
Albrecht Dürer
at Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon, France and a set of three 'wolf-hares' (or hound-rabbits) relationship by Basilius Valentinus's alchemical works and his Venus image.
Glyph of four hares sharing four ears
Painting of three hares
water colour painter/illustrator/author and winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and Tir na n-Og Award, Painting of three hares Archived 21 April 2013 at archive.today.