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Description: | A copper alloy vesica-shaped (pointed oval) seal matrix, back plain other than suspension loop intact at top of raised midrib. Midrib bends at the bottom of the matrix, as indicated on the drawing. Device of "A pelican in her piety", i.e., a female pelican pecking at her breast in order to draw the blood with which she feeds her chicks in the nest below her. The nest is set in a tree, whose trunk stops short of the lettering area, ending in a point; the whole scene fills all the available area quite tightly. Device separated from the legend by a neat line; a similar line marks the outer edge of the matrix face.
Measurements: 20 mm x 32 mm; weight 13.5 g.
The lettering on this matrix is very clear other than at one point, where the engraver appears to have made a mistake and attempted to rectify it, with rather indifferent results. This occurs on the letter three from the end of SALOMONIS, where the two vertical bars of the N seem to have an eth (a letter resembling a mirrored 6) between them; however, the rest of the letters make it apparent that this is the genitive case of the Latinized "Solomon", and hence the character should be read as an N. The name Solomon seems to have been more popular in the south of the country than the north. The byname suggests that Solomon's place of residence at the time that this matrix was made was Wingham in Kent, but this is all that is known of him. This attractive matrix illustrates a popular mediaeval image, "the pelican in her piety". The image has its roots in the Bible (Psalms, 102:6), and was developed by Christian commentators. Essentially, the pelican chicks were held to attack their parents as they grew older; the parents, in response, struck back and killed the chicks. However, on the third day the mother pelican drew her own blood which, pouring over the dead chicks, brought them back to life. The comparison with the story of Jesus is obvious: through pity for erring mankind, He allowed himself to be crucified, but rose again on the third day; by the shedding of His blood, mankind was saved. See also IHS-65B358, IHS-671517 and IHS-6720D3 for other examples of this device. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1250
1350 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Irene Szymanski | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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