SEAL MATRIX

A cast modern copy of a medieval copper alloy seal matrix dated to the medieval period (1200 - 1400 AD). The original matrix was given to the landowner after this copy had been made. The following description is of this copy rather than the original - no comment can be made on the metal, colour or weight. The cast copy is very well made and the casting is particularly fine and it seems to be a very good likeness of the original

A cast copper alloy pedestal / pendant seal matrix of medieval date (1200-1400). The die oval in circular and body of the matrix is a pedestal formed from six irregular tapering sides. These terminate in a moulded band above which simple pierced pointed loop extends. The die / seal face is well preserved. The central device of the seal is relatively common motif of a hare riding a dog playing a pipe or horn. This design is contained within a beaded border. The inscription is well spaced and relatively well cut (although the moulding is poor). The inscription reads : * SOHOV I RIDE. This is a variation on a Norman / French hunting cry. The detailing on the letters is good - the S is composite, the R has a wedged foot, the E is closed with a rounded back. After the RIDE is a mark: possibly a leaf which fills the space in the inscription.

From the seal matrixes size and the image it depicts, it was most likely to represent a private personal object. This type of seal is dated to the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 1200-1400. Similar parallels can be seen in Salisbury Medieval Catalogue (Part 1) pages 27-39. Seal 21 (pages 33 and 37) in this catalogue depicts a monkey riding a dog, which is a very close parallel to this example. It is dated to the early 14th Century.

Other examples are present on the PAS database - a good parallel is from St Michael, Herts BH-7E8898 http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/524447. In this record Irene Szymanski has commented on a similar matrix as follows: "This entertaining little matrix bears a subject often found in the marginalia of mediaeval manuscripts, "the world upside down", i.e., examples of reversals of the norm: favoured topics include women taking on men's rôles and animals those of humans (see ref. for further details). This seal illustrates a double joke, for not only is the hare taking on a man's rôle, but a hunting dog is being ridden by his normal prey, a hare, who is blowing a hunting-horn into the bargain." The legend reads: "SOHOV ROBEN" which is in a form of French. A colloquial translation could be 'Tally-ho Fido'! 'Sohov' is a French hunting cry that would probably have been familiar to everyone in the countryside. 'Roben' was probably a stereotypical and generic name for a hound, and is probably a derivative of 'Robin' (Irene Szymanski record sheet 117a, unpublished).

Another of these seals was found near Holme Lacy, Herefordshire (HESH-690900) <http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/99370>

The seal matrix measures 15.9mm diameter across the die and the reverse rises to a height of 18.3mm