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Description: | Cast copper alloy seal matrix, with a central motif of a crouching Hare, of medieval date (1250-1400). The die is roughly circular in plan with a diameter of 15mm. The reverse rises to a height of 14.1mm terminating in a broken lug. This is presumably the remains of a small loop. The body of the matrix is roughly hexagonal in section. It weighs 3.71 grams. The die depicts a crouched Hare on all fours with long ears and an arched back. This design is enclosed within a circular motif created from a series of small incised circles. This would create a circular beaded boarder of small sub-oval pellets in the seal impression. Around the edge of the die, outside the beaded boarder is an inscription in latin. This reads: PRIVE SV. This could be interpreted as 'private seal' or 'I am private'. The matrix is of a mid-dark green colour with an even patina. The matrix has also been rolled and abraded in the plough soil. This has damaged the outer edge of the seal face as well as the loop at the top. From the seal Matrixes size and the image it depicts, it was most likely to represent a persons private personal seal. Similar examples are recorded in A.B. Tonnochy's Catalogue of British Seal Dies in the British Museum: 1952. The closest parralels are 751, 752 and also 755 which all depict either rabbits or hares. This type of seal is dated to the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 1250-1400.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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