Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, Mathias Jenkin, Two Lions Rampant

Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, Mathias Jenkin, Two Lions Rampant, 22, Image & Found by Peter Eggers.
Found in North Holland, 19mm, 7.9g.

2 2 either side of 3 flowerheads // cross or inverted sword with horizontal base joining M (I?)

Identified by Peter Maunder, "The form of the numerals '22' suggest this is an early seal. Referring to Jane's catalogue*, compare with seal No. 1 or No. 3 or 9, so first guess is seventeenth century.

The lion rampant does appear on eighteenth century Tiverton seals (eg. 39 and 59).

I notice the vertical bar to the right of the lion rampant with what appears to be a cross at the top. This bears some resemblance to seal No. 3 for example which I assumed was a damaged 4 device, but looking again might a cross.

The lion is chained to the vertical bar below which is a crossbar similar to seals No. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 10.

A 5-pointed star appears on seal No. 11. This seal does not seem to have the 4 device at the top of the vertical bar, merely a small crossbar.

The fact that this is a two-part suggests it is a Tiverton seal, a 4-part seal would be normal for Exeter.

I read the letters "M" and "I" on either side of the lower crossbar.

The conclusion therefore is that this is a late seventeenth century Tiverton cloth seal belonging to a merchant who was contemporary with Samuel Foote. Foote was the town's leading merchant but coming second in the ranking was Mathias Jenkin and so I am certain that this is our first Mathias Jenkin seal, and as such is very exciting.

Jenkin's dates as an exporter of serge are 1673 to 1706."
*A helpful classification system for Tiverton seals, devised by Jane Evans, can be found as an appendix to Maunder, P., 'Tiverton Cloth: The Story of the Town's Woollen Trade 1475 - 1815'.

The fullest collection of Tiverton cloth seals (about thirty) is on permanent display in Tiverton Museum.