Cloth Seal, Suffolk, Alnage, TB, London Arms
Cloth Seal, Suffolk, Alnage, TB, London Arms, Image & Found by Derfel.
Found on Thames Foreshore, 18mm x 36mm.
36 // TB, SVFFOLKE* around (secondary London City arms stamp on connecting strip) // (secondary castle/building stamp on connecting strip) cross of St George on shield with ornate brackets around // FAL / TI
A most interesting Suffolk four-disc alnage seal for 36 yards of cloth stamped for the alnager TB (suspected to be Tobias Blosse of Ipswich but Commonwealth dating brings that into question, see Elton, p.373, Cloth Seals, Archaeopress 2017). The cross of St George suggests the Commonwealth period and the secondary London / castle/building stamp is very rare. Could it be a reference to Blackwell Hall where all cloths brought to London were inspected or, if it is Norwich castle, it may even be connected to Norwich's exemption to this rule? Finally it appears to be an uncommon example of a faulty (FALTI) cloth seal from Suffolk.
The finder, Mark Jennings, has found another example of the secondary London stamp from the Jamestown Rediscovery project that has clearly interpreted the reverse as being a castle - Tower of London maybe?
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