St. James's Auctions
Auction 49 5 Oct 2021
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Seal matrices, all c. 19th century, in the style of the 13th, 14th or 15th centuries (4):
a) Reproduction matrix, pointed oval, S CAPITULI HOSPIT...., the hospital of Santo Spirito, Rome, double-armed cross with 12 heads, and the dove above;
b) Pointed oval matrix, in the style of the 14th or 15th century, double-armed cross and two letters P C on either side of the cross, the double-armed cross suggests that this was meant to be associated with the hospital of Santo Spirito, Rome;
c) Circular seal, in style of the 13th century, S MARCHI....., equestrian knight;
d) Circular seal, in the style of the 13th century, SEEL DE JEHANNIE DE DAME DE LUGUET, in centre, a square shield with heraldry, Luguet is in the Pays d'Issoire in France.
This collection of seal matrices was accumulated by A. H. Baldwin & Sons over many years. There is apparently no record of where or from whom they were acquired, or their previous history. These entries were compiled on the advice of a leading consultant in the history of sigillography.
Seal matrices are notorious for being copied and forged. Copying began in the early 16th century and continued until the 19th century when the production of copies and forged items reached its climax. The subject may be studied in the following:
Dominique Delgrange 'Matrices de Sceaux: Copies Imitations Faux ou Pastiches 'in Pourquoi les Sceaux? eds. Marc Gil et Jean-Luc Chassel, (Lille 2014), pp. 61-91. This is particularly useful for an analysis of the handle types on false matrices in Planche 2.
Ambre Vilain, Matrices de Sceaux du Moyen Âge, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 2017.
A recent study of part of this process is the article by John Cherry 'Metal casts of Seals : Some early impressions' in Le sceau dans les Pays- Bas méridonaux, Xe- XVIe siècles, eds. M. Libert and J. F. Nieus (Brussels 2017), pp. 11-21.
The terminology used here is based on those studies.
An original engraved matrix is of the date suggested, while a reproduction matrix has been produced by moulding around either a genuine wax seal or a mould of a seal. The wax seals or mould may or may not be original.
A false matrix is engraved with the intention of deception. Sometimes they were created before 1800, and described as pre-1800 false matrix. After 1800 they are catalogued as '19th century in the style of a previous century'. False matrices can be either engraved or moulded, or a combination of the two.
Many of the matrices in lots 1169-1171 may have come from the Tyssen/Hankinson collection. In 1882 C. S. Perceval commented that a proportion of this collection resembled those in the collection of Dr. Richard Rawlinson (died 1755) now in the Ashmolean Museum. Since lot 1187 is likely to have come from the Tyssen/Hankinson collection, Lots 1169-1171 and other Italian 17th century and 18th century seals in this sale may have done so as well. For the Rawlinson collection see John Cherry, Richard Rawlinson and his Seal Matrices: Collecting in the early eighteenth century, (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) 2014.
Viewing is strongly advised for the pieces in this collection.
(150-300 GBP)
a) Reproduction matrix, pointed oval, S CAPITULI HOSPIT...., the hospital of Santo Spirito, Rome, double-armed cross with 12 heads, and the dove above;
b) Pointed oval matrix, in the style of the 14th or 15th century, double-armed cross and two letters P C on either side of the cross, the double-armed cross suggests that this was meant to be associated with the hospital of Santo Spirito, Rome;
c) Circular seal, in style of the 13th century, S MARCHI....., equestrian knight;
d) Circular seal, in the style of the 13th century, SEEL DE JEHANNIE DE DAME DE LUGUET, in centre, a square shield with heraldry, Luguet is in the Pays d'Issoire in France.
This collection of seal matrices was accumulated by A. H. Baldwin & Sons over many years. There is apparently no record of where or from whom they were acquired, or their previous history. These entries were compiled on the advice of a leading consultant in the history of sigillography.
Seal matrices are notorious for being copied and forged. Copying began in the early 16th century and continued until the 19th century when the production of copies and forged items reached its climax. The subject may be studied in the following:
Dominique Delgrange 'Matrices de Sceaux: Copies Imitations Faux ou Pastiches 'in Pourquoi les Sceaux? eds. Marc Gil et Jean-Luc Chassel, (Lille 2014), pp. 61-91. This is particularly useful for an analysis of the handle types on false matrices in Planche 2.
Ambre Vilain, Matrices de Sceaux du Moyen Âge, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 2017.
A recent study of part of this process is the article by John Cherry 'Metal casts of Seals : Some early impressions' in Le sceau dans les Pays- Bas méridonaux, Xe- XVIe siècles, eds. M. Libert and J. F. Nieus (Brussels 2017), pp. 11-21.
The terminology used here is based on those studies.
An original engraved matrix is of the date suggested, while a reproduction matrix has been produced by moulding around either a genuine wax seal or a mould of a seal. The wax seals or mould may or may not be original.
A false matrix is engraved with the intention of deception. Sometimes they were created before 1800, and described as pre-1800 false matrix. After 1800 they are catalogued as '19th century in the style of a previous century'. False matrices can be either engraved or moulded, or a combination of the two.
Many of the matrices in lots 1169-1171 may have come from the Tyssen/Hankinson collection. In 1882 C. S. Perceval commented that a proportion of this collection resembled those in the collection of Dr. Richard Rawlinson (died 1755) now in the Ashmolean Museum. Since lot 1187 is likely to have come from the Tyssen/Hankinson collection, Lots 1169-1171 and other Italian 17th century and 18th century seals in this sale may have done so as well. For the Rawlinson collection see John Cherry, Richard Rawlinson and his Seal Matrices: Collecting in the early eighteenth century, (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) 2014.
Viewing is strongly advised for the pieces in this collection.
(150-300 GBP)