STAMP OF APPROVAL

Secret symbolism, timeless truths, intimate glimpses into past lives, and intricate hand-engraved designs - antique wax seal stamps transform letters into works of art, and can teach us a lot about ourselves

- FEATURE ELLIE TENNANT

Collector Simone Daiber presses an antique wax seal stamp into a blob of soft, red wax.

As she gently lifts the stamp, a shiny button-like seal is revealed: Je ne chante que pour vous (I sing only for you) it reads, with a bird soaring above a single rose. It's romantic, beautiful and soulful in a way that modern reproduction seal stamps can never be, elevating her letter to a thing of beauty.

The earliest seals were used to authenticate official documents or to claim ownership of something. In ancient Mesopotamia, from around 4,000-3,000 BC, cylindrical stamps made from shell or stone were rolled in clay to leave basic impressions. Later, etched stone stamps were used - examples have been found in the former Roman Empire and across the Middle East. Wax seals weren't used in Europe until the Middle Ages, when aristocrats and religious figures started to 'sign' parchments with stamped seals, either tied to the document with a ribbon or applied directly.

Collector Andrew Morris, of Sigillum Seals, says that the earliest seal stamps in his collection of 3,800 date from around 1200, and are ecclesiastical. ‘The church still uses seals today,' he points out. ‘Seals first begun to be applied for personal reasons in the 17th and 18th century, and they often featured armorials rooted in heraldry. Some seals have more than one matrix (or mould) on them, with different matrices for different uses, depending on who you were writing to. One would have your full armorial (your official arms), for the most official correspondence. Then there would be a stamp with a shortened version, your crest, which would identify you when you wrote to friends. You'd use your most informal stamp - just initials - for personal letters to family and your closest associates.