Rights Holder: Winchester Museum Service
CC License:
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Unique ID: HAMP-438EE2
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A small, complete cast copper-alloy medieval seal matrix of conical form which has survived well (c. 14th century AD). The handle is hexagonally faceted. It has a recessed suspension loop, with pointed top and central circular recessed perforation. The circular die features a donkey's head facing carved deeply in intaglio within a beaded border. The animal possibly is sticking its tongue out. The mane is incised, as are the ears; the eyes are punched out and the nose and upper lip are moulded. The ass's head is surrounded by stars and a crescent. The impersonal legend seemingly reads 'IESV EST . AMIE...' ('Jesus is [a/my] friend'), although some of the letter are blundered or inverted. The artefact now has a dull grey-green patina. An animal identified as a hart, with a star above, can be found illustrated in Read (2001, 79; ref. 608).
Dr. Malcom Jones comments (pers. comm. October 2017): '[The] legend is IE SV SEL AMIE (I am the seal (of your) lover). [I've] never seen an ass-head like this before, but I agree that must be what the designer intended -- in addition to the star on its head and its ears, [I also see] a horse-shoe in the field'.
Inscription:
IE SV SEL AMIE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1300
Date to: Circa AD 1400
Quantity: 1
Length: 20.4 mm
Weight: 6.26 g
Diameter: 16.6 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 27th July 2008 - Sunday 27th July 2008
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Other reference: E2468
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
4 Figure: SU6433
Four figure Latitude: 51.092748
Four figure longitude: -1.087497
1:25K map: SU6433
1:10K map: SU63SW
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Read, B. | 2001 | Metal artefacts of antiquity: A catalogue of small finds from specific areas of the United Kingdom | Langport | Portcullis Publishing | 79 | 608 |