Cloth Seal, Norwich Weavers' Company Seal, 1670, Image by Karen Ellis-Andrews, Found by Roy Ellis.
Found on Thames Foreshore, 20mm.
(P R / R M) T B / (H) S P B / (P) C // NO / RWI / (CH)
A Norwich cloth seal with the letters in a well known style:- NO / RWI / CH the other side shows the surname initials of the wardens of Norwich for that particular year, PR / RMTB / HSPB / PC
Information taken from Geoff Egan, No.82, Fig.21 Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum, Occasional Paper 93. The surname initials shown there are identical to those above and he states that:- "The initials are those of the wardens for 1670: Robert Phillipe, William Rix, James Rigg, Thomas March, Sebast Tawerneare[*], Thomas Browne, William Hunt, Tho Selth, Robert Pecke, Thomas Browne, John Porter, Greg Claxton (Mayor's Court Book, folio 139/139v), i.e. giving on the stamp:
P R
R M T B
H S P B
P C
There is a parallel in the Cuming Museum."
*See the Norwich Mayor's Court Book entry on this Gallery.
See BSG.CS.00194 for another example of this seal found in Yorkshire.
Also see the 'Worsted Reformed' seals that were attached to the other end of these cloths.
