Medieval - Silver Gilt Armorial Seal Matrix - Sir Richard Wortley > Lot No. 600

Description:
Circa 16th century AD. A small hexagonal-shank 'chessman'-style personal seal matrix with circular suspension loop and knop with double collar; the oval face of the seal showing an armorial shield within a beaded border; the arms diagonally halved bearing three bezants and with three martlets in each half (heraldically blazoned as 'a bend three bezants between six martlets') being the arms of the Wortley family of Wortley Hall in South Yorkshire; probably the personal seal of Sir Richard Wortley (d. 1603). WITH: a modern coloured postcard depicting the Wortley family arms.

Measurements:
3.54 grams; 19.5mm tall.

Condition:
Very fine with the gilding almost fully intact.

References:
For style of engraving and dating, cf Oman, 'V & A Catalogue of Rings', No. 489, etc. & plate XXI; for Whortley Hall, cf NMR: Monument No. 619248; for the arms, cf yorkshirehistory.com/Gallery/W.

Provenance:
Ex English collection.

Comments notes:
Wortley Hall was the ancestral home of the Earls of Wharncliffe, the Lords of the Manor of Wortley. The earliest record is for Alnus de Wortley, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls for 1165. Sir Thomas Wortley, born 1440, lived in the manor. His grandson Sir Richard Wortley rebuilt Wortley Hall in 1586 and died 1603. During the English civil war Sir Francis Wortley commanded a loyalist garrison at nearby Tankersley, and led the battle on Tankersley moor where he was captured by the Roundheads and taken to the Tower of London. Wortley Hall fell into decay until the mid 18th century. When Edward Wortley commissioned the rebuilding of the hall. In 1800, James Archibold Stuart Wortley and his wife Caroline Creighton should have taken up residence, but were unable to do so because for some reason the architect had omitted to include a staircase. The landscaping of the current grounds is attributed to Lady Caroline.

Export licence:
No

Estimate: £200 - 300 (EUR 240 - 360; USD 320 - 470)

Auction date: Friday 19th March 2010 at The Swedenborg Hall 20-21 Bloomsbury Way
London WC1A 2TH

Sold for: £720