North Yorkshire Moors Collection, Part IV: Coins and Medals

XIV: Seals by Simon, Second Great Seal of the Commonwealth, 1651, a cast bronze uniface Counterseal (reverse), view of the House of Commons in session, in the third yeare of freedome by gods blessing restored 1651, 143mm, 238.17g (Nathanson p.21; Vertue pl. vii; Birch 599). Hollow reverse, cast from a wax original, about extremely fine, excellent detail £500-£700

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The North Yorkshire Moors Collection of British Coins.

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Provenance: R. Stucker Collection, Bourgey Auction (Paris), 21 November 1977, lot 79.

Early in 1649 Thomas Simon was granted a commission to engrave the Great Seal of the Commonwealth, but because Parliament were in a great hurry to have the Seal Simon was given less than a month to complete it (Allen, BNJ 1940, p.440; Nathanson p.19). This first hasty effort was replaced in 1651 with another Seal of the same design, but executed with much greater care. The 1651 Seal is a magnificently crafted work, full of fine detail; the best known illustration of it was first published by Vertue in 1753 from a wax impression, then in the collection of Margaret Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Portland; her collections of coins, medals and gems were dispersed post mortem in two auctions in 1786. The Simon archive included a pen and brown ink design for the 1649 Seal (Christie’s 14 July 1987, lot 17), but no sketch of the completed design for the 1651 Seal is believed extant