Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton / Wellington, Thomas Were & Sons

Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton / Wellington (Somerset), Thomas Were & Sons, Image & Found by Marjolein.
Found in ?, Netherlands, ? mm.

Figure 4 with extended vertical impaling a foot and S-F at the base of the vertical, SAML.BURRIDGE.TIVERTON around // 22 / GO, THOS.WERE & SONS. around

This is a cloth seal from Wellington in Somerset. The large amount of Tiverton and Wellington serge produced was almost entirely exported to the Continent where many cloth seals have been recovered, mostly bearing the distinctive 4 with foot privy mark of Samuel Foote.

From Jane Evans, "Thos Were & Sons is actually a Wellington (Somerset) firm, operating 1754-1772. Pre 1744, Wellington was supplying cloth to Tiverton merchants thirteen miles away such as George Osmond for him to export, obviously adding his own seal. However, when Wellington started exporting cloth direct themselves, they carried on using Tiverton-type 'Foot' seals but adding their own name of Thos Were & Sons in the surround. There is a subtle difference in the way the S F is written below the foot. On Wellington seals there is a dash between the S and F, which is not there on Tiverton seals of this date. But do not confuse this with a long dash separating the S and F on the early Foot seals which have no name in surround."

Evans Type 6.6.1. - A helpful classification system for these seals, devised by Jane Evans, can be found as an appendix to Peter Maunder’s comprehensive history of the Tiverton cloth trade.

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