PERIOD OF GOTHIC ART.
The bronze matrix of the singular seal of which a representation is annexed, was discovered about the year 1812, in a ruined tower of the castle of Giéz, in Touraine. A cast in plaster was presented to Mr. Way by Monsieur Louis Dubois, one of the Conservateurs of the collection in the Louvre, who stated that a little gold figure of St. George, possibly a knightly decoration, and a small triptic of gilt brass, were found with the seal. According to local tradition, the castle of Giéz had been at one period the abode of the duke of Bedford, but the seal, which appears to be a kind of rude imitation of the mayoralty seal of the city of London, is certainly a work of a later time. This matrix can scarcely be considered as a forgery, fabricated for any illegal purpose; the assimilation is merely to be traced in the general arrangement of the design, the details being changed in many respects, which may be seen by comparison with the original mayoralty seal, made towards the close of the fourteenth century. The matrix is now almost wholly defaced, the most deeply sunk portions of the design being alone preserved; the annexed representation is taken from an impression in its perfect state. Stowe relates that the old seal was broken
few other MSS. were purchased of the younger Thoresby's executors by Mr. Wilson, the recorder of Leeds, and are now in the possession of Mr. Wilson of Melton."
