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LOT 1851
Medieval Bronze Seal Matrix with Clasped Hands
12TH-14TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (4.37 grams, 20 mm).
With central mane-in-fede motif beneath a star, Lombardic script legend '* FOY ME TENT' for 'fidelity sustains me'. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx Stocker collection, Kent, UK, 1955-early 2000s.
FootnotesThis amatory legend is found on other matrices, where the first word is more usually spelled FEI – a similar example is PAS database, SOM-D80124. An impression in the National Library of Wales is attached to a document dated c.1310. For this and similar legends see, Jones, M., The Beautiful Game: Courtly Love Posies in Anglo-Norman Inscribed on Jewellery and Seals, in Journal of the British Archaeological Association 176 (2023), 1-30.
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