MEDIEVAL SEALS:
SMALL IMPRESSIONS,
BIG STORIES

WORKS OF ART & DECORATIVE ARTS
AUCTION 18 SEPTEMBER 2025

THE COLLECTION WILL BE SOLD AS A SINGLE LOT.

The word 'seal' comes from the Latin sigillum, meaning 'little image'. Made with a matrix and impressed in wax or lacquer, seals serve to physically authenticate a document. They also close a letter. The seal impression acts as a signature and bears witness to the origin and authenticity of the document it accompanies. The use of seals and cylinder seals is attested as early as 3200 BC. Kings, bishops, knights and civic officials—anyone of standing—possessed a personal seal, instantly recognisable. The choice of symbols was never left to chance: at a glance they had to proclaim the holder’s power, rights and identity.

R D P FRANCISCI.COMITIS.
PALATINI.VERFIGURA.PORCELINO.
NOBILI.D.GENTE.CREATI

+S.FRIS. IOHIS. DEI.G-
RA. EPI. VULTURARIESI

PAPYR. DESILVES.
EPS: MACER. ET. TOLEN

In many cases, the artistic value of a seal equals its historical importance. Numerous examples stand out for the remarkable precision of their workmanship: finely engraved and sculpted like classical reliefs, they possess striking plasticity and life. Seal forms vary as much as their sizes—round, oval, ogival or shield-shaped. Some have not only an obverse but also a reverse, the so-called 'counter-seal'. Matrices can be made of a wide range of materials, including lead, bronze, silver, ivory or even precious stones. The imagery proclaims the identity of the seal’s owner, at times in the form of allegory.

The seal collection offered in our upcoming sale comprises 312 pieces and will be sold as a single lot. Most of the seals date from the 13^th and 14^th centuries. This extensive ensemble is not limited to one region or a single typology, though there is a clear preference for Italian examples. It has been meticulously photographed, inventoried and classified in an accompanying dossier. According to oral tradition, the collection was assembled by the celebrated Austro-Italian art historian Leo Planiscig (1887–1952), then passed into private hands in the 1950s/60s and, by inheritance, into the present Swiss collection. Trained in Vienna, this curator and specialist in Italian sculpture—renowned for his expertise in Quattrocento small bronzes—may well be the originator of this exceptional group. Whether or not he authored the accompanying inventory is unconfirmed; however, a handwritten note left by the owner and the dossier’s scholarly, meticulous approach argue in its favour.

The classification adopted for the collection is based on function, since a purely chronological or regional order entails too many uncertainties: it is often difficult, if not impossible, to determine with certainty a seal’s precise date and place of origin.

Among the ecclesiastical seals—about one third of the collection—are historically significant examples of prodigious artistic quality: a cardinal’s seal; five episcopal seals from the 14^th, 15^th and 17^th centuries; the seals of a scriniarius and a scriptor; the seal of the church of S. Maria et Theobaldus, Metz; various chapter seals, and a substantial group of abbatial and monastic seals.

+S’ ALESII*TRVLIE*PPOSITI*
SCI*GEORGI*INPALLATIO

+S VICARIATVS
EPATVS CONCORDIEN

+S FRIS NICOLAY
EPIECLE YSERNIESIS

Among the secular seals, numerous singular pieces stand out: two bearing the indication 'veronese'; a group of notarial seals; and private seals of notable figures. These include Antonio Priuli, Count Palatine and later Doge of Venice; Nicolò Badoero, podestà of Parenzo; Pietro Alamanni (16^th century); Zanobi di Betto de’ Bardi, of Donatello’s family; the Venetian general Francesco Bembo (late 15^th century); the French architect Jacques Caron of the same period; Gregorino Fregoso, son of Paolo, Doge of the Republic of Genoa; Cante de’ Gabrielli, the podestà who decreed Dante’s exile; the Venetian admiral Andrea Loredan; Franceschino Pico della Mirandola; Federico Pio di Carpi; Bernardo Rossi of Parma, and a seal of Tommaso Toidini, podestà of Florence.

In the 13^th and 14^th centuries the art of the seal reached a particularly refined pitch. Tiny reliefs reveal astonishingly precise faces, finely modelled draperies and subtle architectural details. Some seals are so exquisitely worked that they recall splendid cathedral portals in miniature. More than mere instruments, seals form a universal visual language—a union of law, representation and art. This important collection, attributed to the scholar Leo Planiscig, can be compared to the 'Schøyen Collection', the largest known private collection of seals, sold in London in 2019.

View the catalogue