Cloth Seal, Kent, Alnage, Crowned Rose, TS, Image & Held my Mike Patrick.
Bought in England, 21mm.
Crowned double rose T S to sides, S.(P?)... L.I.CO.KENT.CC around (Lombardic) // split rivet stub, heavy scratches
An early 16th century alnage seal for Kent that may allow us to correct a misreading of the only known seal (in Britain) still attached to a reasonably sized section of cloth (National Museum Wales, acc.no. 20.420/14).
See Egan. G., 1987, Provenanced Leaden Cloth Seals by Geoffrey Egan, Sub-Department of Medieval Archaeology, University College, University of London, submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1987, p.137, "A number of seals with a crown over a double rose and Lombardic-letter legends have been recorded: crown over double rose, letter to each side, S:PAO'VEAL:I:CO:KENT(A) around (Lombardic letters, the last letter in the legend varies from stamp to stamp) //-"
Seal no. 1335 is the one attached to a fragment of plainwoven woollen cloth, measuring 135 x 85 mm and is identified above as having .. R to the sides of the crowned rose. On a recently received image from the Welsh National Museum the letters are reasonably clearly seen as being T S and this seal above, which appears to be a parallel, also shows a clear S instead of R and a probable T (although obscured).
See also Geoff Egan, Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum Occasional Paper 93, No.47, Fig.16.
There is an interesting similarity between this design and coins of Henry VIII for 1526-47, see BSG.CS.01942.
