CLOTH SEAL

A Post-Medieval lead cloth seal, probably dating to c. AD 1600-1700. Two lead or lead alloy discs which have been pressed together, creating a design in shallow releif on each disc. One disc appears to have been stamped with the arms or Haarlem, although only a small section of the design has survived. The design features the top right corner of a shield, with the top edge curving slightly into a low, central point. The shield is decorated with a cross pattee over what is probably the point of a sword, with two of the four flanking stars surviving on the right. The shield is surmounted by a hollow rectangle, containing four pellets and with lines extending upwards from the end and possibly the centre. This feature appears to be a section of a coronet or crown. The reverse is stamped with the number 19 in relief with a smaller 1/2 to the right, although the design is similarly incomplete.

Dimensions: diameter 16.4mm; thickness 3.1mm; it weighs 4.01g.

A similar, but not identical, seal is illustrated by Egan (1994: 194, no. 321) who suggests the arms would have been surrounded by the legend HAERLEMS GOET (goods from Haarlam). The reverse of Egan's example is also stamped 19 1/2, refering to the length of cloth in Dutch ells. Egan (ibid: 110) notes that Haarlem was an important finishing centre and that its cloths are represented by a variety of stamps, largely dating to the 17th century. Similar examples on this database include SOM-EE9D2E.