COURT OF PLEAS SEAL, COUNTY PALATINE OF DURHAM

MS 2223/13
MS Short Title COURT OF PLEAS SEAL,  COUNTY PALATINE OF DURHAM
Text SIGILL: COMIT. PALATINI DUNELM AD BRIA ET ALIA IN EODEM COM: SIGILLANDA DEPUTAT, SIGILL COMIT. PALATINI DUNELM AD BRIA ET ALIA IN EODEM COM: SIGILL: DEPUTAT; SEAL OF THE CHANCELLOR OF THE COURT OF PLEAS OF DURHAM
Description MS in Latin on brass mounted on copper alloy, Durham?, England, 1595-1606, 1 circular seal matrix, diam. 7 cm, 1+1 lines in square capitals, the Chancellor of the Court of Pleas of Durham on the obverse in cap and cloak enthroned beneath an arch and holding a book, above a shield with the arms of the See of Durham against a ground with floriate scrolls; on the reverse an equestrian figure facing left in armour and with ostrich-plumed helmet, pearled outer borders, plain inner borders. The matrix is composed of two parts which fit together with projecting lugs with holes and pegs; each part is made in two pieces: the faces are engraved in brass and attached to outer plates which incorporate the lugs.
Provenance 1. Court of Pleas of the County Palatine of Durham (1595-1606); 2. Found Herne Bay area, East Kent; 3. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., London.
Commentary The seal matrix for the Court of Pleas of the County Palatine of Durham, from the bishopric of Tobias Matthew, Bishop of Durham from 1595 - 1606. The design is modelled closely on episcopal seals of the same period and was used for sealing writs that were issued by the Court of Pleas.
Published 1. C. H. Hunter Blair, "Post-Reformation Ecclesiastical Seals of Durham", Archaeologia, Society of Antiquaries, 2nd ser., vol. 77 (1927), p.176, plate XX, nos. 1-3, described as a Chancery seal. 2. Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection, ed.-in-chief, Prof. Jens Braarvig. vol. IV: Medieval seal matrices. Ed. by Richard Linenthal and William Noel. Oslo, Hermes, 2004.
Place of origin England
Dates 1595-1606 AD