Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Royal seal of King Henry IV of England

Royal seal of King Henry IV of England

c1399–1413
Beeswax with linen cord
Bequest of Sir William Dixson, 1952
DR 70

‘I am not in the roll of common men’

This is the first of two royal seals used by King Henry IV, who ruled England from 1399 to 1413. The design features a series of canopied niches. The centre niche shows the king seated on a carved pedestal between two lions, holding a sceptre and orb. Above the lions in small side niches are two figures; on the right, the Virgin and Child, and on the left, St George with his shield. Next to these figures, in larger canopied niches is a larger shield hanging in a branching tree, with a greyhound seated at the foot. Next to these, just inside the border on each side, is a soldier in his armour, pictured three-quarter length. The reverse side shows the king seated on his galloping horse in his chainmail, holding a sword and shield. The remains of the linen the cord used to attach the seal to the document are still visible at the top.

It is not known how the seal came into the collection of Sir William Dixson, although an accompanying note says that it was ‘at one time the property of the first Governor of South Australia’, Sir John Hindmarsh.

King Henry IV was also known as Henry Bolingbroke or Henry of Lancaster.

Shakespeare’s two Henry IV plays are the source of a number of common sayings, including:


‘The better part of valour is discretion.’ (Part 1, Act 5, Scene 4)


‘He hath eaten me out of house and home.’ (Part 2, Act 2, Scene 1)


‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’ (Part 2, Act 3, Scene 1)

It is believed that the Henry IV plays were first performed around 1596–97. They were published in 1623 in Shakespeare’s First Folio, a copy of which is in the Mitchell Library.

William Shakespeare wrote three plays about the English royal House of Lancaster: the first two on Henry IV; the third on Henry V. The last of the Lancastrian kings, Henry VI, is not the subject of a Shakespeare play.

Medieval seals were typically made of a compound of about two-thirds beeswax and one-third resin. In the case of important transactions or agreements, the seals of all signatories, along with those of witnesses, would be affixed to the one document.

The study of seals is known as sigillography or sphragistics.