Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, George Dunsford

Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, George Dunsford, Image & Held by Michel Royer.
Purchased in the Netherlands, Found in Amsterdam, 25mm.

22 / GO, GEO.DUNSFORD(small circle with pellet in centre)TIVERTON around // Foote privy mark S_F at base, SAML.BURRIDGE.TIVERTON. around

Originally recorded on Euro-Plombs.

A cloth seal from Tiverton in Devon bearing the name of George Dunsford. Evans Type 4.7.2.* See No.68 Fig.7 p.406, Maunder, P., Tiverton Cloth: The Story of the Town's Woollen Trade 1475 - 1815 for a complete seal of this type.

The large amount of Tiverton serge produced was almost entirely exported to the Continent where many cloth seals have been recovered, mostly bearing the distinctive 4 impaled foot privy mark of Samuel Foote.

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

*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.