Medieval Lead Very rare pipe lead Antwerp (sealing lead) - 27 mm (No reserve price)

This is a beautifully preserved textile lead from Antwerp. This so-called pipe-shaped lead dates from the 15th / 16th century. A pipe-shaped lead is a cylindrical or rolled piece of lead that was pinched around the cords of a bale of textile (hence the 'pipe' shape). It served as a quality mark, tax seal, or provenance certificate in the thriving cloth industry. Because lead is very soft and cheap, it was the ideal carrier to quickly engrave administrative markings.

Dimensions: 27 x 20 mm
Weight: 7.08 g

Condition: intact / not restored - original patina / conserved

Characteristics:

Front:

The 'counting frame' (left): This is actually a schematically stylized loom (or a weaver’s comb/shaver). It stands as a symbol for the craft of the weavers and the cloth makers. Sometimes it was also used to indicate the specific length or quality of the bale of fabric with notches or stripes.

The 'hand' (right): This is the iconic Antwerp hand, derived from the famous city legend about the giant Druon Antigoon and Silvius Brabo. It served as the official city and quality mark of Antwerp to show that the batch of textile in the city itself had been checked and approved.

Thanks to these two clear symbols, the lead piece can be directly traced to the Antwerp textile trade.

Back:

This concerns a so-called house mark or tally marks (also called tally engravings). In archaeology, this type of geometric patterns, carved with a knife or awl, are known as house marks. Textile workers, weavers, or traders who could not write themselves scratched their own unique symbol into the soft lead to identify their batch of damask fabric or textile.

Shipping method: this lot will be exceptionally well packed and shipped via DHL or UPS using Catawiki's smart shipping