introducing.......... Un me Suffit.

I thought that I could break the ice by introducing my seals, and telling you a little about each one.

The first one I would like to show you is  'Un Me Suffit'....... One is enough for me......

This is a hand carved early seal made from sterling silver and carnelian agate and still has it's original patina..... just gorgeous!  It dates to the earlier part of the 1700's... and when I first saw it,  I thought that it was THE most romantic thing I had ever seen.

Because it was hand-carved it was obviously commissioned.  You wouldn't have been able to walk into a shop a buy two of these seals off the shelf.  Wax seals were used to seal correspondence... (and letters and messages were the only way to communicate if you weren't face to face) and were valuable and an important part of daily life.  The seal you chose showed how educated you were, your status, your wit and cleverness and your general mood at the time of writing the post.



This particular seal had layers of symbolism in it..... and I can daydream and imagine a newly engaged girl, writing to her sisters or friends to tell them of her impending marriage.......

'Un me Suffit'

.............one is enough for me!

As you can see it features an image of cupid, winged and flying.  He has one perfectly shaped heart in his arms.   He is raising it up or 'elevating' it as the one he has chosen.

He is also leaving two other hearts behind (perhaps two other suitors?) ....un me suffit!

Another layer of the wax seal that I love is the fact that the two hearts were left behind on a drum.  Drums or the beating of them is often used as a metaphor for love....' a heart beat'.... 'be still my beating heart'....... 'with a pounding heart'.......'with every beat of my heart'.  So it adds significantly to this lovely romantic image.  Hand-carved over 250 years ago..... and reclaimed in sterling silver to be worn today.  And I do think that it is still as relevant today as it ever was.

This wax seal necklace is available to buy from this site or in my Etsy shop (you have a choice of a 16" or 18" sterling silver Rolo Chain.).  It will arrive beautifully packaged, with 'SWALK' packaging.  It will also have an explanation card with it to explain to the recipient the meaning and sentiment behind this particular seal.....

Making heirlooms from heirlooms...................