https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/templates/general_wide/img/logo.png https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-.html https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/cloth-seal-58670.html Tue, 01 Jul 2025 10:40:57 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		One inner disc of a four-disc lead alnage seal of the post-medieval period. The front of the disc depicts a harp with the fraction 1/4 to its left. The back of the disc is plain. The remains of two peripheral connecting strips survive on opposite sides of the disc. Cloth seals of this type were applied as evidence that a tax on the cloth, known as the ’alnage’, had been paid. In this case the figure ’1/4’ indicates that the amount levied was one farthing. The alnage was abolished in 1724, but although this marked the end of their use for taxation purposes, lead cloth seals continued to be used for quality control purposes until the 19th century. See also PAS: GLO-9D091C.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/lead-seal-58474.html Fri, 28 Feb 2025 22:37:23 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A lead seal, probably from a bag, depicting on one side the arms of England, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or, and on the other side the letters AGR. The form of the shield, with its concave top and conspicuous vertical graining to indicate the red (Gules) field, are features that are found on coins of Jersey from 1877 to 1923 (see Image 4). The inscription AGR., notably with a stop only after the final letter, might indicate that it is an abbreviation for 'Agriculture'. On the basis of the above, and the reputation of Jersey as an exporter of agricultural products (particularly Jersey Royal potatoes and Jersey milk), it is speculatively suggested that the seal might be from a bag of Jersey agricultural produce, but no parallel has been traced at the time of writing. For another depiction of the Jersey shield of arms of approximately contemporaneous date, see UKDFD 3483.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/post-office-bag-seal-58406.html Fri, 24 Jan 2025 10:38:17 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A lead post office seal of the 'bulla' type, used on mail bags and sacks. The first side of the seal depicts two heraldic shields: the left one bearing a dolphin embowed with two saltires in chief, the right one bearing a griffin passant and a chief. The second side of the seal is now abraded, but was probably stamped G POST below a crown. The arms depicted are those of Sir Thomas Frankland, 2nd Baronet Frankland of Thirkleby (dolphin embowed), the senior Postmaster General, and Sir John Evelyn, 1st Baronet Evelyn of Wotton (griffin passant) his junior colleague. The two men were Joint Postmasters General between 1708. and 1715. The bulla - a disc with a tunnel from side to side through which a string is passed - became a popular form of seal during the 18th century. It was found to be more versatile than the rivet-type seals used on cloth, as it could be attached to a wider range of goods, including the bags, bales and sacks in which they were distributed. See also PAS: SUR-865867 and PUBLIC-EF1971. An earlier seal of similar type is recorded as UKDFD 44014.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/cloth-seal-29658.html Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		Two discs and the connecting strip from a four-disc alnage seal of the 17th century. One disc is stamped with a portcullis and an inscription. The other disc is stamped with a thistle. The inscription is partially off the seal and only the letters ANO can be read with reasonable certainty. The rivet and rove discs are missing. The ’Alnage’ was a tax levied on cloth, and the purpose of the alnage seal was to provide evidence that the tax had been paid and the cloth was legally saleable. The seals were applied by officials (’Alnagers’) appointed by the government to oversee the process. The Alnage, which had been levied since medieval times, was finally abolished in 1724. However, although this marked the end of their use for taxation purposes, lead cloth seals continued to be used for quality control purposes until the 19th century.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/cloth-seal-58332.html Sat, 16 Nov 2024 18:41:51 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		The rivet disc and connecting strip from a two-disc lead cloth seal. The face of the rivet disc is stamped XXX, most likely a reference to the length or weight of the cloth. The rivet-end is stamped with a portcullis. This was the badge of the Beaufort family, and it was adopted by the Tudor monarchs as an emblem of the dynasty. Its use on cloth seals was quite common during the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly, but not exclusively, on county alnage seals. The ’Alnage’ was a tax levied on cloth, and the purpose of the alnage seal was to provide evidence that the tax had been paid and the cloth was legally saleable. The seals were applied by officials (’Alnagers’) appointed by the government to oversee the process. The tax, which had been levied since medieval times, was finally abolished in 1724. However, although this marked the end of their use for taxation purposes, lead cloth seals continued to be used for quality control purposes until the 19th century.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/cloth-seal-57998.html Fri, 10 May 2024 10:45:20 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A complete rectangular cloth seal of the early post-medieval period. The front of the seal has two lines of Roman numerals, the upper line reading +VIII and the lower line reading XVIIII. Both lines are are likely to refer to the length and/or weight of the cloth. The connecting strip and rove disc survive intact and the latter is still attached to the rivet on the back of the seal. Cloth seals were used for quality control and taxation purposes from the 14th to the 19th century.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/cloth-seal-57966.html Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:03:48 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A lead cloth seal of the 16th to mid 17th century. The seal bears the letter ’A’ and the pinecone heraldic badge of the southern German city of Augsburg. Augsburg was known for its production of 'fustian', a mixed linen-warp/cotton-weft fabric, which could be made with a silky finish and used as a substitute for velvet. Cloth seals were used for quality control and taxation purposes from the 14th to the 19th century. See also UKDFD 697.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/lead-seal-57819.html Mon, 22 Jan 2024 20:27:37 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A square lead seal of flattened tubular form, stamped on one side with a crown over the number 63, probably a verification mark applied by an official authority. The purpose of the seal is uncertain, but it is either a capacity seal or a tubular bag seal. Capacity seals were attached to the handles of drinking vessels to indicate that they met the official standard (e.g. Bagseal Gallery BSG.OS.00027 and PAS: LIN-4DDD52). Capacity seals would necessarily have to be made from sheet in order to enable them to be wrapped around the vessel handle. Tubular bag seals were attached to bags or sacks that were tied (and sometimes labelled) at the neck. The two ends of the string were threaded through the hollow seal, which was then crimped with a pair of special pliers. They have been used by the Post Office, suppliers of animal feed, cement manufacturers, etc. (e.g. UKDFD 38065, UKDFD 49892 and UKDFD 39677). Seals of this type were usually made from extruded tube. Unfortunately, it is unclear from the images whether the present seal was made from sheet or extruded tube.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/bag-seal-50063.html Sun, 03 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A lead flour bag seal of the Tadcaster millers, J A Ingleby. One side is inscribed J A INGLEBY TADCASTER ROLLER MILLS. The other is inscribed SWAN WHITE FLOUR, and has the number 2 at the centre. Joseph Rank wrote of this mill: "I think it was about the year 1883 that I saw the first roller mill, when I went with a friend to Messrs. Ingleby's Mill at Tadcaster, which mill had started to grind on the roller system. I saw at once there the great advantage to be gained by grinding with steel rollers in preference to millstones. Although at that time the mill was not automatic, and they had to move the products about in sacks, the flour was in every way better."
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

]]> https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/artefact/post-medieval-to-modern/lead-seals-cloth-bag-and-bale-seals-etc-/bag-seal-50348.html Tue, 16 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)  

Description:		A lead seal of the 'bulla' type from a flour bag of the North Shore Mill Company of Liverpool. One side depicts the liver bird emblem of Liverpool and bears the inscription NORTH SHORE [MILLS] LIVERPOOL. The other side is stamped with the inscription P over TIE. The North Shore Mill Company was incorporated on 20 October 1857 and was in continuous operation until well into the 20th century. The January 1899 edition of the Liverpool Mercury records the death on January 3 of a James Seddon, aged 61, who had worked at the company for 41 years, so almost since it was established. Thirty years later a commercial publication of 1929 writes: The flour mills of the North Shore Mill Co., Ltd., are among the largest in Liverpool and they are served by a direct railway siding, by canal and by road vehicles. Situated in Boundary Street, about half a mile from the nearest docks, the mills 'are within a few minutes' travelling distance of the dock granaries. The meaning of the second side inscription is uncertain, but a second example recorded on The Bagseal Gallery differs only in having 'L' rather than 'P' above TIE.
Category:		Post-Medieval to Modern, Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)
Category:		Lead seals (cloth, bag and bale seals, etc.)

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