Seal impression (cast)

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This is a 19th century sulphur cast of a seal impression. The impression was made from the 3rd seal of the Abbot of Dryburgh Abbey in Roxburghshire, dating from 1404.

The seal depicts the Virgin and St John the Baptist standing in a niche. Below is an abbot kneeling in veneration. The incomplete inscription 'SIGIL [LVMAB] B .. IS DE DRIBOVRGH' identifies the abbey. The gold border is modern cardboard trim.

Seals were usually made of beeswax, softened by heat and attached to a document. A mould or matrix was used to make the impression in soft wax.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-180-001-807-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland Part 2
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  K.1999.1335
• Date: Date of cast: 19th century; Date of seal: 1404
  
• Material: Sulphur; brown. Inscription: SIGIL (LVMAB) B .. IS DE DRIBOVRGH.
  Seal / cast
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Seal / cast
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Roxburghshire, Dryburgh
  
• Event:
• Description: Brown sulphur cast of the 3rd seal of the Abbot of Dryburgh, depicting the Virgin and St John the Baptist with a kneeling Abbot, 1404
  
• References:
  • Stevenson and Wood, i, p. 177, no 67 
  • Stevenson, J.H. and Wood, M. Scottish Heraldic Seals - Royal, Official, Ecclesiastical, Collegiate, Burghal, Personal, vol i. Glasgow, 1940, p 177, no. 67. 
• Translations:
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