Scotland, 1528 CE. This is a vellum charter document written in Latin signed by Henry Preston, the Master Chaplain and Preceptor of the Hospice and Chapel of the Blessed Mary Magdalene in Musselburgh. The land is being given to Thomas Preston and is dated January 16, 1528. It grants lands in Whitehall, Orkney. Other signatories are George Durie, Abbot of the Monastery of Dumfermline, and James Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews and Primate of Scotland. There were originally three seals attached, but George Durie's is now missing. This charter is moving land, and therefore wealth, between three of the most powerful men in early 16th century Scotland. Size: 11" W x 14.5" H (27.9 cm x 36.8 cm)

Each seal has symbolism relating to its owner. Henry Preston has his name as the legend and three unicorn heads. James Beaton's seal has as its legend, "S Jacobi betun Archiepi, SCTI, Andree totius Regni Scotie PMAT. Ac aplice sedis legati nati". The artwork of the seal is elaborate, with three gothic niches with canopies and at the sides open tabernacle work. In the center niche, is a figure of St Andrew, crowned with a nimbus, standing behind his cross, which he supports with his right hand, while his left hand holds a book. In one niche is a figure of the Virgin with crown and nimbus, holding the infant Christ; in the other is a figure of St James the Less, holding a pilgrim's staff in his right hand a book in his left. At the lower part of the seal is a shield quarterly, first and fourth, a fess between three lozenges, for Beaton; second and third, a chevron charged with an otter's head for Balfour. Above the shield is a cross bottonee. On a scroll flowing on each side of it is the word "Misericordia". The Counter seal is a St Andrews cross surmounted with a shield quarterly as before with the cross bottonee and scroll.

cf., Laing - Ancient Scottish Seals 1850 Nos. 879/80.

Provenance: ex-Bastiaan collection, acquired at Artemis Gallery in 2004

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#115376

The document has been kept folded and the inside protected; the ink of the actual charter is highly readable, while the outside has some wear/staining but also remains fairly legible. Two seals remain attached, one fully complete and one with a minor chip broken from the lower left.