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Description: | Copper alloy medieval fob seal matrix dating to the 14th-15th century. The matrix has faceted hexagonal handle, tapering to a single collar and terminating in a lozenge shaped suspension loop with a drilled circular loop. The face of the matrix is circular and depicts a single letter as the central device. The letter is a crowned capital ?I? between two sprigs of foliage (palm branches). The crown above the ?I? has bifoliate sides and a central fleur.
The letter on the matrix may be the owners initial although this is not necessarily definitely the case. Crowns are found on a lot of medieval items and they do not necessarily denote royalty; in some cases they are thought to have been used for luck and in other cases they are used to indicate something or someone sacred, for example, a crowned ?I? was used on ampullae from the Virgin?s shrine at Ipswich. When combined with the palm fronds (the sign of martyrdom), the initial may be used to indicate a saint. The devotion to saints and the Virgin was at it?s height during this period and it would not be uncommon to find this reflected in a seal matrix.
The matrix weighs 6.7g and measures 26.4mm in length and 14.3mm in diameter (across the face). | 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
1500 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Anna Marshall | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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