Cloth Seal, Charles II, Alnage, Dozens, Stuart Arms, 1684
Cloth Seal, Dozens, Stuart Arms, 1684, Image by StuE, Found by Nasher.
Found near Boldock, Hertfordshire, 28 x 14mm, 8.2g.
Blank // DO / ZEN / 1684 // Stuart Arms // blank
Complete four part alnage seal, DO / ZEN (N retrograde) dated 1684 // Stuart Arms. Nothing decipherable on the the rivet discs.
J.E.Pilgrim, The Rise of the 'New Draperies' in Essex, University of Birmingham Historical Journal Vol. VII, No. 1 1959, "[In] Needham Market some light, cheap cloths known as 'dozens', which were very similar to kersies, were made." For this he references 'Star Chamber Proc. 118, file 10: Exch. K.R. Port Books. bdle. 602, no. 8.' Although this particular reference Pilgrim was discussing cloth manufacture nearly a century before the date on this seal, when the first Flemish weavers arrived to replace much of the native cloth with their bays and says, the cloth remained popular for many generations.