[Signet ring with matrix of a merchant’s mark] [realia]

England, ca. 1580.

1 item ;

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Great Britain -- England, -- publication place.

272819

From dealer's description: "TUDOR SIGNET RING WITH MERCHANT’S MARK MATRIX 7. [SEAL MATRIX.] [Signet ring with matrix of a merchant’s mark.] [England, c.1580.] Signet ring, copper alloy (diameter of ring approx. 2.7cm, size X, oval bezel, diameter 1.5 x 1cm) some old pitting & corrosion, sometime lacquered for preservation. A scarce survival, this Tudor ring can be dated to the reign of queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), most probably c. 1580. European merchants of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries marked their goods with these symbols, known as merchants’ marks, also penning them on bills of lading, and incorporating them into matrices used to seal their letters and documents in wax, as here. The sealing of documents underpinned the authentication of both letter writing and legal transactions in early modern manuscript culture, making seal matrices significant objects, connected intimately with the identity of owners. For examples of comparable designs on wax seals on Elizabethan mercantile correspondence, see: P. Beale, A. Almond & M. Scott Archer, The Corsini Letters, Stroud, 2011, plates 11-14." Ordered from Samuel Gedge, D9666, 223-07-07, Catalogue XXXIV, item #7

272819