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Description: | An almost-complete pedestal seal matrix of post medieval date. This object has been cast in copper alloy. The face of the die is oval with an incised decoration of an anchor inside an oval border. At the centre of the oval, superimposed over the main shaft of the anchor, is a heart which has been deeply incised or perhaps cast.The handle which extends upwards from the back of the die narrows sharply to a thin stem, rectangular in cross section, at the centre of the oval. The stem then flares to form a flattened oval shape with three circular perforations across its width. Above the perforations the handle terminates in a suspension loop. This loop may have been circular. It is broken with most of the original circumference missing. The broken ends are worn.The seal matrix is mostly brown in colour with patches of dark green patina on the stem and the die. The surface is not smooth all over, with small raised lumps (of metal?) on the face and reverse of the die. The face of the die has suffered some damage with a semi-circular chip out of the edge at the top of the design. At the bottom right of the design, the anchor is much closer to the edge of the die and the oval border is missing. It is not clear whether this edge has been worn down or whether the design was altered to take account of this irregularity in the shape of the face.This object is 22.14mm long. The face of the die is 15.27mm x 13.18mm. The hand is 1.53mm thick. It weighs 3.48g.A very similar example is recorded on the PAS database at WMID-493CO1. SUR-8CB946 also has a very similar handle design and almost the same die decoration, although without the central heart.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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SEAL MATRIX
An almost-complete copper-alloy pedestal seal…
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