Materiality and Agency in Medieval Seals and Sealing Practices

Sillence, Matthew (2025) Materiality and Agency in Medieval Seals and Sealing Practices. In: Tributes to T.A. Heslop. Harvey Miller/Brepols, Turnhout, pp. 301-313. ISBN 978-1-915487-18-6

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

This paper examines the imagery and function of episcopal seals through Alfred Gell’s (1945–1997) theory of agency to explore the forms of interaction between prototype and image (imago). Among representative artworks, impressed images were highly self-referential in drawing attention to their materiality. The paper applies Gell’s principles to understand the personhood at work through episcopal seal impressions; their connection to and implication of the human body; and the process by which individuals were bound by them. It outlines two forms of multiplication: the sealing process that creates an impression; and the generation of a series, which led to seals viewed as a collective, emanating not from an individual prototype but from the office or institution represented.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	seals,anthropology,material culture,works of art,iconography,epigraphy
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	06 Jan 2026 16:30
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2026 16:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101541
DOI:	isbn:978-1-915487-18-6

Actions (login required)

View Item