Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, George Dunsford

Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, George Dunsford, Image by Mike Patrick, Held by Topsham Museum.
Purchased in the Netherlands, 25mm.

22 / GO, GEO.DUNSFORD, (TIVERTON) around // missing but rivet stub shows 4 with extended vertical impaling a foot and S_F at base, (SAML.BURRID)GE.TIVER(TON) around

A cloth seal from Tiverton in Devon bearing the name of George Dunsford who traded from 1802 to 1810. Evans Type 4.7.2.* See No.68 Fig.7 p.406, Maunder, P., Tiverton Cloth: The Story of the Town's Woollen Trade 1475 - 1815 for a complete seal of this type.

See BSG.CS.01925 for a complete example.

The large amount of Tiverton serge produced was almost entirely exported to the Continent where many cloth seals have been recovered, mostly bearing the distinctive 4 impaled foot privy mark of Samuel Foote.

This seal is held by Topsham Museum - Object Number 10704(5). The fullest collection of Tiverton cloth seals (about thirty) is on permanent display in Tiverton Museum.

*A helpful classification system for these seals, devised by Jane Evans, can be found as an appendix to Peter Maunder’s comprehensive history of the Tiverton cloth trade.