Cloth Seals: an Illustrated Guide to the Identification of Lead Seals Attached to Cloth
ISBN: 9781784915490
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Archaeopress
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Fine Arts;

We are very lucky to have small, contemporary records of history scattered throughout our soil in the form of lead seals. With a couple of notable exceptions, they have largely been ignored by archaeologists and historians, but the recent explosion in the numbers found and recorded has helped to bring their importance and potential to the attention of those interested in our heritage. This book is intended to be a repository of the salient information currently available on the identification of cloth seals, and a source of new material that extends our understanding of these important indicators of post medieval and early modern industry and trade. It is, primarily, a guide to help with the identification of cloth seals, both those found within and those originating from the United Kingdom. Most of the extra examples, referenced beneath the images, can be quickly located and viewed through access to the internet.

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.

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