Georgian Equestrian Royal Wax Seal Matrix Impression Miles Milo of Gloucester UK

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Georgian Equestrian Royal Wax Seal Matrix Impression Miles Milo of Gloucester UK:
$4200.00

For your consideration is an exceptionally rare and historically important 19th-century resin-wax impression of the equestrian seal of Miles (Milo) of Gloucester (d. 1143), hereditary Constable of England and later Earl of Hereford, whose original matrix was engraved during the reign of Empress Matilda, circa 1141 CE. This impression, executed circa 18301860, belongs to the formative period of British sigillographic scholarship, when controlled antiquarian transfers were taken from surviving medieval matrices for institutional study and archival documentation.

The obverse presents the classic martial equestrian type: Miles in full mail hauberk astride a galloping horse, holding an upright lance and bearing a shield, enclosed within a beaded border and the Lombardic legend SIGILLVM MILONIS DE GLOECESTRIA (Seal of Miles of Gloucester). The composition corresponds precisely to the canonical impressions preserved in the holdings of The National Archives (Kew) and published in 18th- and 19th-century antiquarian literature, including Birchs Catalogue of Seals in the British Museum (1887). The modelling of the horse, the angular rigidity of the lance, and the proportional spacing of the Lombardic lettering are faithfully rendered, indicating that this was not a freehand reproduction but a direct transfer from the medieval matrix itself.

Measuring approximately 68.5 mm in diameter and 8.8 mm in thickness, and weighing 31.77 grams, the impression is composed of resin-reinforced beeswax, exhibiting a density and translucency consistent with early Victorian antiquarian casting techniques rather than later plaster or sulphur reproductions. The wax displays warm brown-olive tonality with slight amber translucence at the perimeter. The reverse is flat, smooth, and entirely free of suspension channels, cord impressions, tag remnants, or scoringconfirming that this was never a documentary seal but an independent archival cast. The reverse bears a period iron-gall ink inscription reading Sigillum Milonis de Gloucestria, executed in a 19th-century antiquarian hand consistent with cataloguing practice within the Society of Antiquaries of London or the early Public Record Office.

Although not a medieval original, this impression represents an early institutional transfer from one of the most historically significant 12th-century English baronial seals. The original authenticated charters issued between 1138 and 1143 during the Anarchy, a formative moment in Anglo-Norman political history. As such, this cast bridges two pivotal eras: the feudal assertion of knightly authority under Empress Matilda and the 19th-century scholarly movement that first systematized Englands medieval documentary heritage. Early resin-wax transfer impressions of major Norman baronial seals are comparatively scarce, particularly examples retaining period manuscript identification. This specimen stands as a museum-grade antiquarian artifact of substantial sigillographic and historiographical importance.