Cloth Seals: An Illustrated Guide to the Identification of Lead Seals Attached to Cloth

Contents

Introduction to Cloth Seals: Aim; Sources; Introduction; Basic Identification of Cloth Seal Type; Component Parts of a Cloth Seal; The Use of Lead Cloth Seals; Alnage & Subsidy; Cloth Seal Matrices; Lead v Wax Seals; The Type of Seals Attached to a Cloth (and Woven Marks); Dating of Cloth Seals; Ordering of Presentation; Images; List and Description of Seals: Seals of Known Locations; Seals of Known Monarch; Seals with Type of Cloth Named; Seals for Faulty Cloth; Seals of Guilds and Companies; Broad Arrow Seals; Alnage Seals; Searchers’ Seals; Clothworkers’ Personal Seals; Other Seals Conventionally Grouped with Cloth Seals; Continental Seals; Cloth Seal Identification Resources; Handling, Cleaning and Obtaining Images of Lead Seals; Bibliography; Appendix 1: Time-line of Events & Legislation in the Textile Industry with Emphasis on the Use of Cloth Seals & the Information They Displayed; Appendix 2: Types of Cloth; Appendix 3: List of Known Alnagers and Their Agents; Appendix 4: Known 16th & 17th Century Clothworkers’ Privy Marks; Appendix 5: Distinctive Identification Features on Cloth Seals; Appendix 6: Tubular Cloth Seals Employed by the Dutch Immigrant Cloth Makers in 16th and 17th Century England; Index

About the Author

After thirty years as a Government scientist, early retirement allowed the author to indulge his hobby of metal detecting. This soon evolved into a passion for recording and researching the lead seals he and his fellow detectorists discovered. After setting up his own web site, which now contains thousands of such seals, he progressed to helping local museums and then the Museum of London with the re-cataloguing of their cloth seals. Over ten years of this experience and world-wide correspondence with other enthusiasts and experts has led to the production of this book.