From Peter Maunder, "There was a Tiverton merchant by the name of Edward Gatchell. He was exporting 1680 - 1715.
As we said with the other seal, the early ones tend to have initials, so it looks like an early seal.
I think the number is "21" and the 3 is scratched on rather than being part of the original design.
21 is not normal for Tiverton, it is 21 1/2, but I don't think that rules this out as being a Tiverton seal.
Gatchell did have a big trade with Flanders, and from there cloth was further traded into France itself, so that would be consistent with the seal being found in France.
It was Tiverton, rather than Exeter, merchants who dominated the serge trade to Flanders.
There are no other merchants from either Tiverton or Exeter who have the initials "E.G.".
The crown appears on several other Tiverton seals in our catalogue, mostly early ones.
I suggest the identification of this seal with Edward Gatchell can be provisional until another example is found."
