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Description: | Medieval cast copper alloy pedestal type seal matrix with a circular face. The matrix has a central design of a lamb and flag: lamb laying to right (left on seal) with its legs under it and head turned to look backwards at a vertical pole with a cross at the top projecting from the centre of its back, a flag flys from the pole. The design is within a pellet border broken by the flag and cross at the top of the pole. The cross forms the start of the encicling legend: ECCE AGNVS DEI (Behold the lamb of God). There is a second pellet border around the legend, partially lost to chipped edges. The central pedestal type handle rises from the face in six facets, narrowing as it rises to a waist from which it expands out slightly to a double collar, emphasised by incised lines below and between the collars. Above the collars the handle ends in a flat, transverse, tri-lobed loop at the top. The outer lobes are much smaller than the central one. There is a circular hole 2.0mm in diameter through the loop. There is no obvious mark on the handle to indicate the orientation of the matrix face.The seal matrix is 20.3mm in diameter at the face by 25.5mm tall; it weighs 9.14 grams.This type of seal was popular in the 14th century and both this legend and the design of the lamb and flag were widely used with many similar examples on this database (Harvey and MacGuiness 1996:88-9).
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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