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Description: | An incomplete cast lead circular Seal Matrix of Medieval date (13th-14th century), with badly damaged edge and missing its loop. It measures 31.74mm in diameter, 5.01mm in thickness and weighs 22.1g.The matrix is flat on the underside with edges angled slightly outwards as they extend upwards (some parts of the edges are (recently) damaged). There is a raised lump at one part of the edge, possibly the remains of a lost loop.The die features a central eight-petalled flower (or starburst?) with a tiny pellet at the end of each pointed-oval petal. The design is surrounded by a personal legend, reading + SIGILL'WILL'FILII hVGONIS (Seal of William son of Hugo).The use of the non-heraldic motif and personal name indicates that this is probably a personal seal matrix (Harvey and McGuinness, 1996: 79, 88). The device is comparable with a seal illustrated in Harvey and McGuinness 1996, 76; ref. 70, dated to 1260 AD. Cherry (1997, p.124) states that: "There was a widespread fashion among all classes for sealing, from the late twelfth to the fourteenth century." He adds (ibid., p128) that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries many seals were produced in lead or copper alloy which had simple devices on them such as stars, fleurs-de-lys or religious subjects, and the owners names.
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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