POST MEDIEVAL SEAL MATRIX

1600

Large cast cu-alloy seal matrix dating from the Post Medieval period.The College of Arms replied to the FLO's enquiry with: The creature looks like a crowned eagle, judging from the nearside wing. It is not 'displayed' (i.e. the sort of 'spread eagle' more usually seen in heraldry) but is shown almost three-quarters with its wings in a pose called 'rising'. However the crown is very crudely done and it is possible that it might have started out as a cockerel, misinterpreted as a crowned eagle by the engraver. There may have been something in the mouth: a crown of thorns is what it looks a bit like; but the area around the mouth is damaged and - along with an element of mis- (or re-) interpretation by the engraver it may be that what we are looking at is actually the sun in the top right of the shield. If what we have is a cockerel crowing at sunrise, this may not be true heraldry but a heraldically styled motif; composite, slightly folksy images like that do not play a great part in English heraldry. The state of preservation and the imprecision of the original engraving do not allow much certainty and the basic design of a bird with wings expanded and something in its mouth is not very distinctive. The crest is very unusual.