Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote

Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote, Image & Found by Redgy Dewulf.
Found at or near Hondschoote in maritime Flanders, 19 to 22mm.

Arms of Hondschoote, a shield bearing Ermine, on a bend 3 escallops, incuse pellets // mostly missing (double rivet) cloth weave imprint on reverse of rivet discs

Four Hondschoote cloth seals all showing 3,4,5 & 7 deeply incused pellets. A fifth seal, in poorer condition, was also found with 8 pellets incused. It is not known what these represent.

"Before 1659, Hondschoote was part of the Spanish Netherlands. A thriving wealthy cloth-town, it had thousands of small workshops making serge cloth from locally-grown flax. Events such as Beeldenstorm, conquest by France and the War of the Spanish Succession, however, brought an end to prosperity. The cloth-makers fled to what is now Belgium and England, taking their skills to benefit France's rivals." Wikipedia.