Of course royalty pulled out all of the stops. One of the most brilliant, shining pieces here is the seal of Isabella of Hainault, wife of Phillip II of france. She died aged 21 in 1190 and her seal was buried with her in Notre Dame, enabling the silver to maintain its brilliant silver lustre.
Bishops' seals, however, seldom survive, for they were usually broken when they died as a security measure, much as we cut up a credit card today. They were usually pointed ovals rather than round as easier to fit in a figure. Those of their cathedral seals could, however, be used for hundreds of years. Such institutions could be very conservative about this image they were presenting to the world. A beautifully preserved seal from Chichester Cathedral (right), dated to the late 1100s, shows a building in AngloSaxon style.
For those more "with it" than your average cathedral, there were fashions in seals. The legend found around most seals, explaining its owner and his or her importance, was originally in Latin, but by the 1300s a display of wit, in French or English, took the place of the formal legal formulations.
Not everyone who needed to know about a seal could read, so extra measures were called for. On the seal of Sir Gilbert Wae, Sheriff of Oxford about 1375, an ox peeps out from behind a castle and there is a stretch of water, a ford. Hence: ox-ford... just imagine the peasants cackling over that when his messenger pointed it out. Who needed literacy?
The exhibition continues at the British Museum until May 20. Free.
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