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Description: | Copper alloy circular seal matrix, with waisted, hexagonally faceted, handle. This terminates in a single collar topped by an intact circular suspension loop with matching perforation. Device: on a plain background a squirrel in profile holding a nut in its paws, facing left, separated from the legend by the remains of a simple line. Measurements: face 15.74 mm diameter, handle 17.84 mm high. A matrix with a similar motif was found in the excavations at Bedern, York in an early to mid 14th century floor level. Squirrels were sometimes seen in medieval art as women's pets, and a bawdy meaning could be read into the inscription. It should also be noted that the cracking of nuts could be an analogy for cracking open a seal(Ottway & Rogers 2002, p2940). | 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: | 1300
1350 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Rosalind Tyrrell | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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