seal;
seal-impression
- Museum number
- 1989,0604.1
- Description
-
Circular copper-alloy seal-matrix with a hinge-shaped handle on the back. Showing the enthroned Virgin and Child in the centre, the Child reaching out with his right hand to receive the chalice-shaped gift presented by the leading king. The two kings behind bear gifts in their left hands and gesture with their right. At the bottom, on a shield, are the heraldic bearings of the guild, being shears, handles uppermost so that the blades encompass a fuller's bat; inscribed in black letter around the border. With wax impression.
- Production date
- 1439 (probably)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 48 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Text from 'Gothic Art for England' ed. Marks & Williamson, exhibition catalogue, V & A, 2003. no. 132.
'The design and engraving of this seal matrix is of a remarkably high quality. It reflects the dsicerning patronage of the socially important Midland town guilds of the later Middle Ages, and emphasizes the legal independence of the guild. It may well have been engraved in Coventry. Coventry was prosperous in the fifteenth century, and of the 108 metal-workers recorded in deeds in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, 12 were goldmsiths.
The seal matrix, which has a hinged-shaped handle at the back, was most probably engraved in 1439. In that year Henry VI granted the Shearers and Fullers the privilege of using a common seal as a body corporate. The journeymen guilds at Coventry, of which this was the only one, were interested in protecting the interests of the minor crafts of the woolen industry against the interest of the rich drapers and mercers. The guilds at Coventry made a rich and substantial contribution to the cultural life of the city. Apart from the feasting, they presented pageants, particularly at the feast of Corpus Christi. The Three Kings of cologne formed part of the pageant exhibited before Prince Edward in Cross Cheaping in 1474. The manuscript of the Shearmen and Fuller's play 'The Nativity' was preserved in Coventry until it was burned in 1879.
See also: The Fuller's Guild of Coventry, Fretton 1879
Text from 'Good Impressions: Image and Authority in Medieval Seals', ed. Adams, Cherry and Robinson. British Museum 2008. Handlist no.12.7.
Seal of the Shearmen and Fullers Guild of the Nativity, Coventry.
This seal, granted by Henry VI, allowed the guild to acquire property as a corporation.
- Location
- On display (G40/dc10/sE)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2003-2004 9 Oct-18 Jan, London, V&A, Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547
- Acquisition date
- 1989
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1989,0604.1