Rights Holder: The Portable Antiquities Scheme
CC License:
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Unique ID: SOM-C1D6BC
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A Post-Medieval lead cloth alnage seal, probably dating to c. 1525-1610 but possibly as late as 1724 (see below). It comprises discs 1 and 2 of a two-part seal together. The connecting strip between these has been entirely lost.
Disc-1 is stamped with a depiction of a crowned portcullis with the letter E at the top left corner of the portcullis and the letter R at the top right. This design is surrounded by a raised circular border that meets the crown. There is an inscription running around the outside of this border but this is illegible barring a single letter M due to loss on the right side of the disc and abrasion where the text survives.
Disc-2 is mostly flat although there are a series of irregular slightly raised lines and scratch marks.
The seal is oval in shape and measures 18.27mm in length, 17.9mm in width, and 2.1mm thick. The seal weighs 3.52 grams.
Egan (1994: 9) notes that the portcullis was "the main design for alnage seals in the late Tudor period... and continued in use into the early seventeenth century". Similarly Elton (2017: 223) states that the design 'may have continued into the early years of James I', which implies a date of c1610. However, the design does appear to have occurred on later seals, for example DENO-681C35 and no. 151 published by Egan (ibid: 178) from the reign of Queen Anne. The letters E and R are likely to stand for Elizabeth Regina and so this seal is likely to date to her reign.
Inscription:
E-R. [...]M[...]
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1558
Date to: Circa AD 1603
Quantity: 1
Length: 18.3 mm
Width: 17.9 mm
Thickness: 2.1 mm
Weight: 3.52 g
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 6th January 2019 - Saturday 6th April 2019
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Other reference: SCC Receipt 018457
Primary material: Lead Alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Egan, G. | 1994 | Lead cloth seals and related items in the British Museum | London | Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities, British Museum | |||
Elton, S. F. | 2017 | Cloth Seals: An Illustrated reference guide to the identification of lead seals attached to cloth | Oxford | Archaeopress Archaeology |