MEDIEVAL SEAL MATRIX

1400

Copper-alloy seal matrix of unusual appearance. The die is circular, 13.5 mm in diameter, and quite thick. It rises to a hexagonally facetted handle, which tapers to a narrowed waist before flaring out again to a globular collar which is decorated with a ridge around the circumference. Above this is a cross terminal, the upper arm of which may be broken at a suspension loop. The die is deeply and neatly engraved with a coat of arms surrounded by an inscription. The coat of arms consists of a shield couché (tilted or aslant) with a tilting helm above, surmounted by a wreath with mantling to either side. Above the wreath is a crest which may possibly be a bird. The charge on the shield is quite clear; three crescents (two and one) and a chief indented of three points. The inscription is in black-letter and begins behind the shield with a five-letter word, perhaps iohan. Beyond the shield are perhaps three more letters, although the edge here is worn and they cannot now be read. The style of the heraldry suggests a 15th-century date; the unusual form of the seal matrix might also argue for a late date. The combination of a rather crude construction for the matrix but a high standard of engraving is a little odd. Strangely, although the shield is distinctive, the holder of the arms cannot be identified with any certainty. Two families, the Franshams and the Fulnetbys, have arms Gules three crescents argent a chief ermine (the chief not apparently indented) and this are the closest recorded, but they have no known association with Suffolk in the 15th century,