Cloth Seal, French, Strasbourg, 1626

Cloth Seal, French, Strasbourg, 1626, Image & Found by Tony Thira.
Found on Thames Foreshore, Dowgate, 37mm, 29g.

Ornate shield bearing on a field of scrolling a bend centrally ridged and with vertical hatching to the lower half, S ± S above, baton to each side, 162(6) below, all in ornate husk border // missing but partial stamp on rivet stub - (from another similar seal) - shield bearing a bend centrally ridged and with horizontal hatching to the upper half and two grenades fired at both ends, D:GARTNERG:Z.S.ZU:STRASBVRG around. There is a cloth weave imprint on the reverse of the rivet disc

Very similar to No.305 Fig.40 in Egan, B.M. Occasional Paper 93, "The legend is in German because the city was considered part of Germany until 1681, when it was united with France. The first arms are a version of those of Strasbourg, and the second are claimed to be the family arms of Gartner in accession records (this is unconfirmed). The hatching is probably the monochrome convention for the heraldic gules (red). This thick, heavy seal was presumably for a heavy-grade cloth..... Strasbourg produced linen-warp serges, bays, says, and tapestry.... the last may be appropriate for such a large and elaborate seal. Other Strasbourg seals found in England include examples dated between 1605 and 1715."

Also recorded as PAS PUBLIC - 1E839C.