Great Seal of England

“ A similar order to the Irish chancellor in the first year of Henry IV., commands him to erase "Ricardus" and insert "Henricus" in the great seal and other seals of that country [48] . The legend of the Bretigny matrix appears therefore in four states; (No. 1.) as it was first engraved in 1360. omitting France; (No. 2.) with "rex Francie" and "Edwardus;" (No. 3.) with "Ricardus;" (No. 4.) with "Henricus." In this fourth state it is called the seal of Henry IV. by Speed and Sandford. But Henry IV. also made a seal (I) which is the richest and largest of all the medieval seals of England. ”

“ The most casual inspection of the famous Guildhall collection will show, stamped upon Seal after Seal through a long succession of Anglo-Norman kings, the same equestrian figure which, obviously of Norman origin, had appeared in England before the Conquest; and which centuries later was designed by an Anglo-Norman engraver upon the Great Seal of the American Confederate States. The artist was Wyon (engraver to the Queen) , and the original of the symbolic figure was that immortal Cavalier, George Washington—a man of Anglo-Norman blood. ”

“ Fig. 2, the reverse of the Great Seal of Henry IV, a splendid example of the seal engraver’s art, is an interesting illustration of how armorials were borne by man and horse, as well as of their approximate proportion. An example of the influence of local considerations in modifying proportion is the group which occupies the middle of the canopy of the tomb, in Westminster Abbey, of Louis Robsart, Lord Bourchier, who was standard-bearer to Henry V. The shield is minimised as much as possible because its bearings appear large and bold on the carved banners at the sides ”

“ In arms in relief, whether in large mural decorations or in the minute workmanship of a seal, contiguous spaces, which in flat painting would be considered divisions of the same plane, are distinguished from each other by sinking the surface in parts or by means of diapering. The quarterly shield of Henry IV on his great seal (Fig. 2, p. 18) has the field of the English quarter sunk so that the edge of the French quarter being higher takes light or throws a shadow which defines the space. ”

“ The silver seal therefore was still the one commonly employed for English affairs, and this is confirmed by a memorandum in 1433 [57] , stating that as the bishop is about to leave England on certain negotiations, the great silver seal, "Magnum Sigillum Regium de Argento," is committed to the charge of the keeper of the rolls to use in his absence. ”

“ Philip, however, lent assistance to David II. of Scotland against King Edward, who immediately renewed his claim to France, assumed the arms and the title of king of that country, and prepared for war. He commenced hostilities in 1339, and upon his new Great Seal (made in the early part of 1340) we find his arms represented upon shield, surcoat, and housings as: "Quarterly, 1 and 4, azure, semé-de-lis or (for France) ; 2 and 3, gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (for England) ." ”

“ In Du Simitière’s final design, which was the best of the four, the Goddess of Justice was substituted for the American rifleman as the sinister supporter, and Franklin’s suggestion was accepted for the reverse.
The committee reported August 20: [8]
The great Seal should on one side have the Arms of the United States of America which arms should be as follows: The Shield has six Quarters, [9] parti one, coupé two. The 1st. Or, a Rose enamelled gules & argent for England: the 2d. Argent, a Thistle proper for Scotland: the 3d. ”

“ The great seal was a very important badge and emblem of the royal prerogative. No decree was of legal authority until an impress from this seal was attached to it. The officer who had charge of it was called the chancellor. A new seal was prepared for each sovereign on his accession to the throne. The devices were much the same in all. They consisted of a representation of the king seated on his throne upon one side of the seal, and on the other mounted on horseback and going into battle, armed from head to foot. ”

“ The great royal seals of more than one king were their handiwork, and it should be observed that the seals of England, not only of the thirteenth century but almost throughout the mediaeval period, were far the most beautiful in the world, both for splendour and elaboration of design, and for exquisite minuteness of detail. ”

“ In 1350 there occurs "June 2 to John de Grymstede a goldsmith of London in part payment of 4l. paid to him for engraving a certain seal for the Lord the king for Ireland, by order of the council 2l." Ibid., p. 154. ↑ Sandford, p. 157. Wailly, p. 113. ↑ Rymer, p. 1018. ↑ In the Issue Roll published by Sir Frederick Devon (p. 145.) we find a payment Aug. 12, 1335, "to Nicholas de Acton, one of the chamberlains of the exchequer, sent by the council with two clerks from York to London to order a certain great seal for the rule of the realm of England to be newly made." ”

“ Lord Chancellor Littleton, fleeing from Parliament to Charles the First at York, carrying with him that precious symbol of Royal authority, the Great Seal (the third Great Seal of that reign) , made in the year the Long Parliament began to sit ”

“ The object I held beneath her gaze was insignificant in itself, merely a small brass seal, but it bore the Warnham arms in exact imitation of the cut amethyst worn by the Earl. It was the seal which had been used to manufacture the duplicate of the envelope containing England’s secret alliance with Germany. ”

“ It was also their view that the seal to be used by the King on a particular document of the kind referred to should be a seal struck, kept and released by the Government of the Irish Free State, on whose advice the document was issued by the King. ”

“ The galley in which the queen and the princess were embarked, being probably of superior construction to the others, and better manned, succeeded in weathering the point and getting round into the harbor, but two or three other galleys which were with them struck and were wrecked. One of these ships was a very important one. It contained the chancellor who bore Richard's great seal, besides a number of other knights and crusaders of high rank, and many valuable goods. The seal was an object of great value. Every king had his own seal, which was used to authenticate his public acts. ”

“ Each of these portcullises is borne upon a white and green ground, the livery colours of the Tudors, and it has been used as a royal badge from the time of Henry VII. until the present day.
The book is held together by bands of gold braid, and fastened by beautiful clasps of richly-chased silver-gilt, with enamelled red roses. Appended to the boards are five impressions of the Great Seal, each in a silver box, with either a portcullis or a red rose upon it. The seals hang by plaited cords of green and gold. ”

“ Of all men, kings and princes might be the first to be found bearing arms. Yet the first English sovereign who appears on his great seal with arms on his shield is Richard I. His seal of 1189 shows his shield charged with a lion ramping towards the sinister side. Since one half only is seen of the rounded face of the shield, English antiquaries have perhaps too hastily suggested that the whole bearing was two lions face to face. ”

“ Casts of these seals were taken by the indefatigable Mr. Doubleday, to whom the Seal department of the British Museum, over which he presides, is so much indebted; and impressions were exhibited by Sir Henry Ellis at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, on the 12th of December, 1833. Engravings of them, accompanied by the following notice, were communicated by Sir Henry to the Archæologia, and will be found in that publication, vol. xxv. plate lxx. fig. 2, 3. page 616., and ibid. pp. 619, 620.:
"The great seal has an obverse and reverse. ”

“ They shall lay the seals reverently before the emperor or king, who shall immediately return them to the archbishops. The archchancellor of the kingdom in which the diet is held shall wear the great seal of the empire about his neck during the dinner and until he returns to his abode. The staff, which shall be of silver of the value of twelve marks, and the seals, shall be handed over to the chancellor of the court. ”

“ THE GREAT SEAL OF THE EMPRESS. (See p. 116.)
There yet remains one point, in connection with this remarkable charter, perhaps the most striking, certainly the most novel, of all. This is that of the seal. According to the transcript in the Ashmole MSS., the legend "in circumferentia sigillo" was this: "Matildis Imperatrix Rom' et Regina Angliæ."
Now, that any such seal was designed for the Empress has never been suspected by any historian. We cannot, on a question of royal seals, appeal to a higher or more recognized authority than Mr. Walter de Gray Birch. ”

“ He then settles down to defend it; for more and more "old man" Seals come, all eager to own the best places. The roaring and fighting go on day and night. The gentle Seal is now a savage beast, covered with wounds. ”

“ Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry III., King of England—he was elected King of the Romans in 1257; the Emperors Charles IV., 1347; Sigismund, 1414; Albert II., 1438; Frederic III., 1440; Charles V., 1530; and Mathias, 1612. Also the seals of John, King of Bohemia, 1314; Waleran, Duke of Lemburg, 1225; and an example of extraordinary perfection in workmanship, the seal of George William of Brandenburg, 1622. Valuable illustrations of sacred costume were supplied by the seals of Mayence, representing St. Martin, the patron
Brooch, found in a tumulus at Skryne, Co. ”

“ Each abbot, too, would have his own seal of dignity, generally showing him standing. Local seals of town or borough may have the image of a patron saint, or armorial device, or castle or bridge or other building (see fig. 4) , or the town itself. A seaport will be indicated by a ship on the waves. The baronial seal bears the armed and mounted knight. On ladies’ seals the owner is often gracefully depicted standing and holding flower or bird, or with shields of arms. After the 14th century, the figures of ladies, other than queens, vanish from seals. ”

“ It is not only in the depth and sharpness of the cutting, that they excel, but in the beauty of the drawing of the various subjects—figures of men, animals, birds, and the lambrequins and mantlings with which the German heraldry abounds. The cheapness arises, no doubt, from the great patronage enjoyed by the seal engravers. Every nobleman has a large office-seal for each of his properties, and some have a vast number, as, for instance, the Prince Schwartzenberg, who has upwards of forty ”

“ The consideration of this objection at first gave my mind no small degree of anxiety. I was conscious to myself that I had no views of ambition to gratify. Those views, if I had entertained any such, would have been better consulted by accepting the Great Seal, and with it a highly efficient place in the public Councils—but which I had already refused—indeed every view of that kind has been long since more than satisfied. ”

“ Two seals only are used at the Colonial Office, the signet and the smaller seal; while at the Home Office and the India Office the smaller seal is used for all purposes. All the seals bear the Royal Arms, but have no image or device appropriate to the office of which each is the symbol. Each Minister receives the seals of his office enclosed in a velvet case from the King. No doubt curiosity impels him to examine the seals on that great day when he enters office, but he probably never sees them again until that other notable day when he quits office by handing the seals back to the King. ”

“ There exists a small seal (N) which is engraved in the French "Tresor de Numismatique," and is by the editors assigned to Henry VI., but by Wailly, who describes it, to Henry VII., no dated impression being quoted. Its diameter is small, being the same as that of the small silver seal (K) of Henry VI., and like that it has the small French counter seal, instead of the horseman of our obverse. Its design is imitated from the L and M of Edward IV., but the lateral guards are removed, leaving no figures upon the seal except the king and his lions. ”

“ What is the oldest armorial seal of a sovereign prince as yet discovered bears the rampant lion of Flanders. In England we know of no royal shield earlier than that first seal of Richard I. which has a like device. A long roll of our old earls, barons and knights wore the lion on their coats—Lacy, Marshal, Fitzalan and Montfort, Percy, Mowbray and Talbot. By custom the royal beast is shown as rampant, touching the ground with but one foot and clawing at the air in noble rage. ”

“ Regarding the scroll containing the “E pluribus unum” we consider the present form altogether the best to use as the sheet scroll mentioned would interfere with the eagle, while the old form of scroll falls in well with the general design. The dies will be cut in steel.
This letter may be said to be the argument for the Whitehouse designs. They were submitted to Mr. Champlin, who wrote, January 7, 1885:
It seems to me useless to regret that Congress did not adopt in 1782 a different device for the great seal of the United States. ”

“ Within the last two centuries their pursuit has been brimful of incident and adventure. As articles of commerce, the oil and the furs of certain kinds of the Seal tribe are of immense importance; whilst the mere hides of all, besides the Walrus tusks, are commodities of great value. Indeed, to the natives of the Arctic regions, Seals are indispensable as a means of every-day existence. ”