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LOT 1293
Medieval 'Thames' Bifacial Pewter Wine Tavern Token
CIRCA 14TH-15TH CENTURY A.D.
5/8 in. (0.72 grams, 16 mm).
Recto with running stag and arrow piercing the neck; verso with heater shield, hatched chevrons design. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Billingsgate spoil from the Thames foreshore, London, UK, circa 1984.
Property of an Essex collector.
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Medieval Knight's Gilt Bronze Enamelled Heraldic Horse Harness Pendant with Crowned Royal Lion
Circa 14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Rectangular pendant with pelletted border, reserved repoussé crowned lion passant gardant on a keyed field to accept enamel fill. 8.2 grams, 44 mm
Found Southern England. Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection. Accompanied by an old Norfolk Castle Museum record slip. -
Medieval Bronze Shield-Shaped Seal Matrix
Circa 14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Of chess piece type with looped handle; the shield-shaped die with a stag's head, cross above and an inscribed panel above. 5.47 grams, 20 mm
Found Northampton, UK.
The cross alludes to the Vision of St Eustace (also of St. Hubert) who saw the Crucifixion between the antlers of a stag. For a similar seal see PAS database SWYOR-1ES497 where the inscription above reads LELS (for LEL SV, ‘I am loyal’) – the present inscription is probably a debased version of this. -
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Medieval Bronze Vesica-Shaped Seal Matrix with a Bird
Circa 14th-15th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
With central motif of a bird wearing the confessor's stole and holding an aspergillum in one foot, legend to the border '*CONFITEOR TIBI ABSOLVO TE' (I confess to you; I absolve you). 7.59 grams, 29 mm
Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection.
A fox - the penitent - lurks below the confessor, here depicted as a bird (duck?) wearing the confessor’s stole and holding a sprinkler for holy water in one foot. The confessor is about to become the fox’s next meal. This is an important addition to the repertoire of renardine satire – the fox-as-preacher to a congregation of birds (often with a couple already stashed in his hood behind) is a common motif in several media. On seal WILT-41EDE6, for example, he stands (with crozier) preaching to a duck and cockerel, but this is the first example of him coming to confession – with malice aforethought, of course.
