Russian Bale Seal, Cross on Shield Type, Image & Found by Kaija.
Found in Dundee area, Scotland,19mm, 10g.
Heavy cross on shield with 9? pellets in the first quadrant and 8? pellets in the second quadrant and 2 pellets in the third and fourth quadrants, border of pellets around // unclear markings, border of pellets around
See Fig. 90 in John Sullivan, 'Russian Cloth Seals in Britain Trade, Textiles and Origins', 2012. "Other possible Baltic/Riga seals ... On one side they carry two initials ... The initials stand above or beneath the numeral and letter combination 12K, 12H, 9K, indicating the quality of flax ... On the other side of these seals is a quartered shield each quarter containing four, five or six pellets ... The establishment of which town or province had this emblem in its arms would identify the origin of this group of seals. A number of seals which might have been stamped in the same port or town occur with a heavier cross on one side, with pellets in each quarter." p.50.
Prior to 1585 Narva's coat of arms consisted of a shield bearing a cross with a rose in the first two quadrants (private communication from Sten Berglund, "Two coats of arms are indeed the arms of Narva*, Grand Master Cysse von Rutenbergi gave it to Narva merchants in 17. january 1426, it was used to mark wax and other goods. In years 1526- 1530 it was used for sealing records (written documents), in 1546 was the same coat of arms engraved to the cities main gate- therefor it can be considered as a coat of arms of Narva. It is unknown how long the coat of arms (crossed schield with roses in the upper sections) was used. It is sure that in 1585 Narva got new coat of arms (shield with fish, saber and cannon balls) from the king of Sweden Johann III." *p.15, Sten Berglund, Middle and Modern Age Lead Seals as the Source of Trade History,Tartu, 2010. See also Fig.2, p.128, Sten Berglund, Middle Age and Modern Period Trade Seals collected from Narva Citizens' Houses on Suur Street 22 and 24 and A Stock Exchange Building during Archaeological Excavations in Narva in 2004–2005 and 2009, Narva Museum Papers, 2010. This all suggests the seals are from Narva, however Sten has also pointed out that the coat of arms of the Archbishop of Riga is a plain cross on a shield and so despite both Cities having a different coat of arms at the time that these seals were issued they would both have an historic precedence for the use of the cross on shield design.
From Ged Dodd, "Obverse:- Quartered Crossed Shield with 4/4/2/1 pellets. Distortion makes there appear to be more, but pellets are always in a neat set pattern, never jumbled.
Reverse:- 12K / T.M
Grower/Owner/Agent initials are T.M with 12 high grade Krown quality flax plants in the bale.
Although the Quartered crossed with pellets design is based on the city of Narva Arms the 380 + seals on the database come from all over the Baltic .. St Petersburg, Kronstadt, Narva, Riga, Libau, Pilau, Pernau, Revel, Elbing, Memel, Konigsberg, Windau or Tilsit .. in the late 18th / early 19th century.
Similar to the many Riga type crossed keys arms which do not all come from Riga, but are riding on the quality of same.
. .see reference IDS 2191 on the pages The PeaceHavens Project - Seal Numbers 2100 - 2199"
