Coats of arms of the Moldavian Treasurer (Vistier) Iordache Balș, as granted to him in 1813 by Prince Scarlat Callimachi. Based on reproductions, description, and interpretations by Cătălina Opaschi ("O alianță matrimonială franco–moldavă, Ecaterina Balș, baroană de Thorenc", in Muzeul Național, Vol. XV, 2003, pp. 141–149). The seven-ray star inescutcheon is the Balș family arms; another identifiable symbol is the aurochs of Moldavia (here in natural coloring); the one-headed bird is read by Opaschi as the Mavrocordatos phoenix displaying Văcărești Monastery, both of which indicate that Iordache was the son-in-law of Prince Constantin Mavrocordatos. The phoenix quarter can also be rendered as tenné (brown), but, according to Opaschi, is in fact a degraded argent (white); the halo-like circle is unexplained by Opaschi, and is rendered here as or, by analogy with the star; the purpure of the lion quarter is not entirely certain, while the lion's tincture is not specified (it is rendered as natural coloring here).
Own work
Dahn