Ancient-Jewellery |
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Code: 11034
This is an excavated medieval bronze armorial seal, dating to the 13th - 14th century. It would have once belonged to a knight, bearing his arms. The armorial displays as 'Murrey on a bend argent three cinqefoils' the sharp cross-hatching of the tincture makes it quite hard to differentiate between the colours 'Murrey' mulberry and Sanguine. The seal is inscribed with the owner's name in a form of 'Lombardic' script, this reads to me as "Iohs.De.Tanbrig?'. The seal is of a 'chessman' type with a quatrefoil handle (broken - possibly cause of the original loss?). These were extremely important objects to their owners, seldom misplaced or lost as credit cards are kept today. On the death of the owner, their seals were broken up and destroyed. Similar armorial seals have been recorded from Cambridge (SF-43A30C) and Northampton (IHS-0BB4C1).
OBJECT: Seal Matrice
CULTURE: Medieval
DATE: c. 13th - 14th century A.D.
MATERIAL: Bronze
SIZE: 22mm tall x 22mm diameter
WEIGHT: 17.09 grams
PROVENANCE: Ex. metal detector find from Lincolnshire