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Back to previous pageLOT 2014
Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
1625-1631 A.D.
2 1/4 in. (37.5 grams, 57 mm).
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. [No Reserve]
PROVENANCE:
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.
FOOTNOTES:
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.
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