Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, Thedore Wilson

Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, Thedore Wilson, Image & Found by Bouk Van de Kerke.
Found in the Schalkwijk, Netherlands, 23mm.

OP / 22 / GO // missing but partial stamp on stub - sprig with 6 leaves, (THEOD- WILS)O(N) around

This is a cloth seal from Tiverton in Devon with the fictitious trading name Theodore Wilson (For Enchmarch 1754). The large amount of Tiverton serge produced was almost entirely exported to the Continent where many cloth seals have been recovered.

Jane Evans Type 5.4.2. from her catalogue published as an appendix to Peter Maunder’s comprehensive history of the Tiverton cloth trade.

A more complete example of this seal is recorded as No.80 Fig.8 p.408, Maunder, P., Tiverton Cloth: The Story of the Town's Woollen Trade 1475 - 1815 and another example is recorded as BSG.CS.01318.

Originally recorded by Jan van Oostveen.

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