Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, John London
Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, John London, Image & Found by Kurt Cr.
Found in the Netherlands, 17mm, 9.3g.
21 1/2 // undeciphered image, IOHN LONDON around
From Paul Cannon, "this is a previously unrecorded seal of one John London, a Tiverton merchant who was exporting cloth to the Low Countries. The following information comes from Peter Maunder’s book “Tiverton Cloth: the Story of the Town’s Woollen Trade 1475-1815” (2018).
In the early 1720s John London is described as a newcomer to the export trade with his partner Walter Broad, who traded as ‘Broad and London’ (p203). Walter Broad in partnership with John London ……. focussed on serge exports to the Dutch and Flemish markets (p204). In 1734 John London was described as one of four Tiverton merchants being supplied by the serge maker Robert Were (p219). By the end of 1737 John London had ceased trading and was formerly bankrupted in December 1738 (p223)."
The fullest collection of Tiverton cloth seals (about thirty) is on permanent display in Tiverton Museum.