MEDIEVAL SEAL MATRIX

1200

A vesica-shaped (pointed oval) lead seal matrix, back unseen. Device: A large fish, probably a pike, head pointing upwards its back to the right, belly to the left. Device is separated from the legend by a neat beaded line; a similar line marks the outer edge of the matrix. Inscription: *S' STEPHANI STVTER (Latin: The Seal of Stephen Stutter OR Stephen the Stutterer).This attractive matrix is in extremely good condition. All the elements of the engraving, from the lettering to the details of the fish, are sharp and clear, and the beaded lines defining the outer and inner edge of the lettering area are complete. The item is also of good quality; note, for example, how the legend itself has been positioned on the matrix so that the owner's name splits logically at the bottom point of the vesica, and excess space after the end of the surname has been filled by a small spray of foliage.The name appears to be formed of a Christian name (Stephen), and a full surname, Stvter. Stvter or, to give it its modern spelling, Stutter, is first recorded in the Suffolk Subsidy Rolls of 1327 (records of a tax of a twentieth levied by Edward III in the autumn of that same year to finance his continuing war with Scotland) (Reaney and Wilson, under Stutter). The name will have started out as a byname (nickname) and, at some stage, became fixed as an inherited surname. The fish is a pike, a freshwater fish, widely consumed in the mediaeval period. Bestiary devotes relatively little time to it other than to say that it was known as "lupus" because of its wolfish greed in consuming other fish. Known in heraldry; best example is the canting arms of the Lucies. Neither of the aforementioned explains its presence on the matrix; may be that the man was a trader in fish or a fisherman (find spot is on a river), or just chosen to be memorable. For another example of a fish on a matrix see IHS-6B23C3, although this is in very poor condition.Measurements: 18 mm x 30 mm.