Cloth Seal, Sandwich, Cinque Ports

Cloth Seal, Sandwich, Cinque Ports, Image & Found by José de Sousa.
Found in the Algarve, Portugal, 28.5 x 35.4mm, 16.36g.

Griffin rampant // three lions rampant and three ships dimidiated and conjoined, legend around mostly missing - OO**(?)AY*S (deciphered by the owner).

A very unusual seal. There is no rivet. The connecting strip is replaced by a hinge with a section removed from its centre, which would allow it to be more easily bent in the desired place but this method of attachment to the cloth would not have been as secure as is the case with a rivet or tubular seal.

The tentative inscription suggests it may be for 100 bay (100 say is not known) with the final S possibly being the first letter of Sandwich in keeping with the arms.

The Cinque Ports emblem and griffin is a strong indication of the Dutch immigrant weavers in Sandwich, Kent.

For a tubular seal with many similarities (the griffin may have been mis-interpreted as a lion rampant) see Egan's PhD, seal 2306, p.145.

“In 1561 a group of families, numbering 406 persons, were allowed to settle in Sandwich. They apparently came from London, being 'planted', upon the Queen's order, with the purpose of 'repaire to our said towne and porte of Sandwich' through textile production and fishing.” [Harte, N.B., 1997, p.218, Holderness, B.A.,The Reception and Distribution of the New Draperies in England, pp.217-243].

The Museum of London holds a tubular cloth seal probably from the Dutch weaving community at Sandwich. It is stamped with XXXIIII (yards long) on one side and a demi lion + ship co-joined, counterstamped with LIIII on the other (accession no. 80.82/57).