About this sheet
This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in color, lettered "SCEAUX DES CORPORATIONS DE BRUGES". Eleven guild seals, numbered 11 to 21, with a second impression linked to seal 13, are printed in dark green on cream. The emblems include a single masted ship for the boatmen, an axe for the plasterers, a shield with bakers' peels, three gloves for the glovers, a windmill for the millers, a saw and tools for the sawyers, a shield with scissors for the barbers and a chest for the joiners. The seals keep the irregular edges of the wax impressions.
The running head reads "SIGILLOGRAPHIE, PL. V." The credits are "A. Rivaud del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier à Paris." and "H. Moulin lith." The caption continues "Suspendus à une pièce de l'année 1356, conservée aux Archives de la Ville de Bruges (Cire Verte)" (Hanging from a document of the year 1356, kept in the Archives of the City of Bruges; green wax) and lists "11. Les Bateliers, 12. Les Plafonneurs, 13. Les Boulangers, 14. Les Tonnelliers, 15. Les Gantiers, 16. Les Meuniers, 17. Les Corroyeurs, 18. Les Scieurs, 19. Les Tourneurs, 20. Les Barbiers, 21. Les Menuisiers." (boatmen, plasterers, bakers, coopers, glovers, millers, curriers, sawyers, turners, barbers, joiners), then "F. Séré direxit."
Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance, histoire et description des mœurs et usages, du commerce et de l'industrie, des sciences, des arts, des littératures et des beaux-arts en Europe was edited by Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, with Ferdinand Séré as artistic director, and it was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Its plates reproduce objects, manuscripts, seals and ornament of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and every sheet carries a running head naming the work, the section and the plate number. The Sigillographie plates of the fourth volume are given over to seals, drawn from impressions and matrices in public archives and collections and identified in the lettering by owner and location.
The plate frames well on its own or alongside the other seal plates from the same section.
Condition: Overall age toning, deeper than on most sheets of the volume; a few small chips along the lower edge.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
