Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/437

Rh Mr. read some "Notes," by Mr. Albert Way, "On a copper matrix, bearing the Holy Lamb," which had been lately found at Bristol.

"Mr. J. F. Nieholls, of the Bristol City Library, has sent for exhibition an impression of a copper matrix found in June, 1872, in the works for the new pier in the river Avon, at Bristol. It lay in the bed of the river, at a depth, as stated, of 40 feet, embedded in clay, and just above the alluvial soil. The plate is of an irregular-square form, about two inches and an eighth in diameter, and nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness. It bears in intaglio the device of the Agnus Dei; the reverse is quite plain, without any trace of a handle or other adjustment. There are three slight flaws in the work, and on that account, it had been conjectured, the object, supposed to have been intended for a seal, might have been thrown aside, and the irregular margin not cut away, so as to bring the work to the usual circular form used for sealing. Around the head of the lamb there is a cruciferous nimb; with one of the fore legs it holds a triple-tailed gonfanon, and the part of that streamer nearest the staff is ornamented with a kind of saltire-shaped device, having a quatrefoil in its centre. The lamb stands on a scroll, or band, with plain ends cut off square. The legend is as follows:—✠. The Contracted word pecca is obviously for peccata. The date of the work seems to be the close of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century.

"The irregular form of this object, and its general character, appear to suggest that it was not intended for use as a seal, as has been conjectured, but for some other purpose. Mr. Nicholls mentioned that it might have been, as imagined, a seal of one of the religious houses in Bristol, possibly of that of the Templars, and that its purpose was for casting badges or religious tokens, of lead or other material, for distribution to pilgrims or the like. It has been purchased for the somewhat extravagant price of 7l. by the Knights Templars Lodge of Freemasons at Bristol. Mr. Addison has given, in his "History of the Knights Templars, and the