The museum?s lead cloth seal collection, comprising almost 2,500 items dating from the 14th to early 19th century, is the largest in the public domain. Most were recovered from the Thames foreshore and have survived in a remarkable state of preservation. They provide crucial evidence for quality control in the textile industry and demonstrate the key importance of London as a finishing centre and market for what was, during much of the period, the principal traded commodity of the realm. As such the seals provide a direct reflection of the capital?s economic development and its national and international commerce. Linens from Flanders, medieval broadcloth, the draperies, Norwich stuffs and cloths exported by the later trading companies are all represented. Some seals bear the impressions of the fabrics to which they were affixed; some were made to denote a faulty or deficient textile and others were counterfeits and used fraudulently. Seals from over 20 countries as well as London itself, are included, and among the later are many from Thames-side dye-houses, Blackwell Hall, and a range of warehousing and drapery firms.
The collection has provided the basis of comparanda for over 50 papers and notes (general reviews, others dealing more specifically with the textiles themselves, trade, alnage-stamp designs compared with coins, and detailed publications of individual finds in Britain, continental Europe, the USA and Australasia), as well as a research degree by the late Dr Geoff Egan.
This online catalogue is based on Geoff Egan?s work, but the entries have been enhanced and augmented by Stuart Elton whose has just compiled An Illustrated Guide to the Identification of Lead Seals Attached to Cloth: from the British Perspective (Archaeopress, 2017). The cloth seals in the museum?s collection have proved an invaluable resource for this work.
The information in this catalogue reflects our current state of knowledge but we are very keen to receive feedback, either in the form of corrections and amendments, or suggestions for enhancement and new identifications.