Bactrian Style Lapis Lazuli Bead Necklace String

Composed of a squat body with raised medial bands, vertical ribbing above and below, broad neck with everted rim, splayed foot and collared spout; maker's mark or other motif to base. 1.2 kg, 17 cm wide

Fine condition.

Christie's South Kensington, 29 April 2005, no.369. Property of a Suffolk gentleman.

Comprising two designs in relief including three horses in an enclosure and two animals, likely cats, fighting; coloured glazes. 1.26 kg total, 10 x 9 - 9.5 x 10.2 in.



Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.

The tile production increased in the second half of the sixteenth century and during the following centuries. The fragments discovered from various localities (pot-tiles, rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal panels, open-work crest tiles) were all produced in regional workshops, from the end of the 15th century or at the beginning of the 16th century. They all had diverse decorative motifs, mainly animals and geometrical or vegetal combinations, almost all of them singular finds for this study area.

Two-part, four-lobed seal with strap and tag above; obverse with heater shield bearing the arms of the City of London with legend to beaded border 'DE * LO[.]DI ONO' (from London); reverse with angel holding an orb with legend 'GLORIA * IN * EXCELSIS' (glory in the highest); accompanied by a letter from the British Museum, with attachments. 37.5 grams, 57 mm



From the collection of the famous author, writer and speaker, Gordon Bailey, Essex, UK; formed since 1968. Accompanied by the original Museum of London letter by Geoff Egan dated 3rd January 1979.

The item was identified by Geoff Egan (then on secondment from the Museum of London to the British Museum) in 1979 as a four-lobed cloth seal, of a type which had recently been found from a shipwreck off the coast of Norway. The likelihood is that the seal was issued by or in connection with Blackwell Hall, which had a near-monopoly on the cloth trade in 17th c. London. The significance of the angel motif and the motto were not known to Egan, and are still debated.