3-057-011 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Design for a great seal for King Charles II, 1662. The famous English medallist and seal engraver Thomas Simon had produced coins and seals for Oliver Cromwell. After the Restoration, he was supplanted by a royalist, but petitioned Charles II for work. Charles was impressed, and Simon was eventually reinstated as the chief designer of coins and seals. The reasons for Charles's enthusiasm are apparent from this superb design for a great seal for the king included in this warrant of 1662 authorising the making of the seal.