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LOT 1745
Medieval Bronze 'You Have a Loyal/Faithful Love' Seal Matrix Head
CIRCA 1300-1400 A.D.
1 5/8 in. (5.28 grams, 17 mm).
Circular die with a central four-leaved plant paris quadrifolia, surrounded by a French inscription reading: '*LEL AMI AVET' for 'you have a loyal (or faithful) love'. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Fairstead, Braintree, Essex, UK.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.ESS-F0F3AA.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
See Jones, M., The Secret Middle Ages, Cheltenham, 2025, 24-5, 313-4, for further discussion.
FootnotesDr Malcolm Jones notes: 'This common device and associated inscription need to be understood in the context of the imagery and conventions of amour courtois/Courtly Love. Certainly, ami literally means ‘friend’, but in this context it means ‘love, lover, beloved’ – so the legend means “you have a loyal/faithful love”. Furthermore this quatrefoil is no ordinary stylised flower. In medieval English the four-leaved plant paris quadrifolia was known as the truelove. Two 15th-century English wills include the bequest of rings in the shape of a truelove: an anulum argenti operatum cum uno trewlove (silver ring fashioned with a truelove) in 1407, and unum anulum argenti et deauratum cum uno trew lofe (a silver and silver-gilt ring with a truelove) in 1464.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1745
Medieval Bronze 'You Have a Loyal/Faithful Love' Seal Matrix Head
Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
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Medieval Pewter Pilgrim's Badge Collection
Circa 15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Comprising: ring-brooch fragment with trefoils and other details; Mary and infant Jesus sitting on a hatched field; double-loop with pellet detail; openwork rosette with trefoils. 9.32 grams total, 27-35 mm
Ex European collection. Ex Suffolk, UK, collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Medieval and Other Artefact Group
12th-20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Including buckle loops and plates, buttons, finger rings, brooches, jetons, clay pipe, and other items. 2.87 kg total, 13-98 mm
Found Yorkshire, UK. From the private collection of Robin Sykes, Yorkshire, UK, formed since the late 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
N.B. This lot is for UK purchase only. -
Medieval Bronze 'You Have a Loyal/Faithful Love' Seal Matrix Head
Circa 1300-1400 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Circular die with a central four-leaved plant paris quadrifolia, surrounded by a French inscription reading: '*LEL AMI AVET' for 'you have a loyal (or faithful) love'. 5.28 grams, 17 mm
Found Fairstead, Braintree, Essex, UK. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.ESS-F0F3AA. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Dr Malcolm Jones notes: 'This common device and associated inscription need to be understood in the context of the imagery and conventions of amour courtois/Courtly Love. Certainly, ami literally means ‘friend’, but in this context it means ‘love, lover, beloved’ – so the legend means “you have a loyal/faithful love”. Furthermore this quatrefoil is no ordinary stylised flower. In medieval English the four-leaved plant paris quadrifolia was known as the truelove. Two 15th-century English wills include the bequest of rings in the shape of a truelove: an anulum argenti operatum cum uno trewlove (silver ring fashioned with a truelove) in 1407, and unum anulum argenti et deauratum cum uno trew lofe (a silver and silver-gilt ring with a truelove) in 1464.
