Cloth Seal, Dutch, Leiden, Crossed Keys

Cloth Seal, Dutch, Leiden, Image & Found by London Mudlark.
Found on Thames foreshore, 35mm.

Missing // shield bearing saltire keys handle loops downwards and heads upward facing outwards, supported by two lions // missing // missing

Inner disc from a four part cloth seal showing the arms of Leiden.

There are several similar seals in Geoff Egan's 'Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum' B.M. Occasional Paper 93. None match this one exactly but as it has the coat of arms of the city there is little doubt that it is a cloth seal from Leiden. Some further information about such seals on page 110 of the above reference:- "Leiden's important and varied textile industry is widely represented by finds of seals in England and on the Continent. In the 1660s its products undercut the prices for similar English fabrics in this country. Leiden's Lakenhal (cloth hall) Museum has an extensive collection of items relating to the sealing of cloths which took place there."

An interesting publication that contains a lot about the practice of sealing cloth in the Netherlands and Leiden in particular is:- Nora Maria Rodenburg, Master Thesis Department of Archaeology and Antique History 23 May 2011' Seal and Deal, Cloth Production and Trade between the Netherlands and Scania during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times.