Jewellery, Watches, Antiquities and Objects of Vertu

A Medieval bronze seal matrix, 15th century, the pointed oval with integral suspension loop behind, the inscription reading ‘SIGILLIN:DECANI:DE:BREKENOK:’ (Seal of the Dean or Deanery of Brecknock), around a central standing figure in the pontificals of a Bishop, facing, wearing a mitre and holding a crozier in his right hand, a book held to his chest with his left hand, all within a gothic style canopied archway, height 48mm, width 28mm. £1,800-£2,000

Brecknock was the Medieval name for Brecon in Powys, Wales. St John’s priory in Brecon was built in 1093 and dissolved in 1538. It was a popular Pilgrim site with the Holy ‘Golden Rood ‘ of Brecon in the nave and guild chapels in the aisles.
This seal was found by Malcolm Shepherd, a landscape gardener who discovered the seal while landscaping his ‘in-laws’ garden in Old Colwyn, Wales, in 2019.
Recorded with PAS: WREX-DB2C7B.