BSG.CS.01806 — Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote

Found at or near Hondschoote in maritime Flanders, 19mm.

The arms of Hondschoote, a shield bearing Ermine, on a bend 3 escallops, large secondary escallop stamp // missing (double rivet) cloth weave imprint on reverse of rivet disc

The rivet disc from a Hondschoote cloth seal. See BSG.CS.01808 for another Hondschoote seal using the escallop as a secondary stamp. A complete example BSG.CS.01038 shows another secondary stamp on it.

"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.