Cloth Seal, Norwich?
Cloth Seal, Norwich, Castle, Image & Found by Daviduk
Found in the Southampton area, Aprox 13mm.
Two discs from a cloth seal with a castle on one side and possibly a W? or part of harp on the other.
The castle on this seal looks very similar to No.80 Fig.21 in Geoff Egan's 'Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum' - "three-towered castle with lion passant below (arms of Norwich) ... The manufacture of russels in Norwich, mentioned by Roberts in 1700, had apparently ended by 1723."
It may also be a Norwich alnage seal rather than a Russel Company one as they are very similar.
PAS IOW-C15879 is a parallel to this seal and shows that the W could actually be part of a harp.
From Norwich Textiles:- "From the 16th century the history of the Norwich textile industry can be traced in greater detail. In 1544 the Company of Dornix weavers was formed, making bed-linens, board cloths and curtains. A small group of specialist weavers from Flanders were invited to work with experienced local men to make 'Norwich Satins’ and ‘Norwich Fustians’ This enterprise grew into the successful ‘Russell Company’ founded in 1554."
Some similarity to castle on No.352 Fig.46 in Geoff Egan's 'Lead Cloth Seals and Related Items in the British Museum' - Hamburg seal for wire thread.
See also PAS LON-DB63F2. But these are 34mm and 36mm in diameter respectively and so unlikely to correspond to this seal even though it looks to have been reduced.
See PAS SUR-708C25 for a similar seal.
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