Rylands Collection. Glass Tassie of Marriage RA monogram. 17th Century

From the collection of J Paul Rylands F.S.A

This is a glass “Tassie” of a medieval intaglio.

The word Tassie gets its name from James Tassie (1766-1799), a Scottish gem engraver who pioneered the use of glass to create impressions and molds from original pieces

This glass tassie came from the private collection of J Paul Rylands who actively collected wax imprints and seals from the medieval period to the mid 19th C.

Many of these pieces were gifts from friends or associates and / or he made impressions of the seals or signet rings in situ and put the melted wax on pieces of scrap card he had to hand.

This glass tassie shows what I presume to be the marriage monogram of royalty as the monogram is topped by a crown and flanked by cherubs. The initials appear to be RA

Despite searching for this coat of arms I have not been able to identify it and alas I do not have Rylands’ notes to help me. A label A28 is affixed to the Tassie presumably by Rylands

Measures 14mm x 15mm in 95% mint condition

Please find below brief details for J Paul Rylands. We have also attached to each listing his obituary and a copy of a letter of thanks for recent wax imprints. These documents are not included with the tassie.

John Paul Rylands, FSA (1846 – 22 March 1923, Birkenhead), was an English barrister, genealogist and topographer.

John Paul Rylands was the son of Thomas G. Rylands of Highfields, Thelwall in Cheshire who died in 1900.[1][2] He was admitted to the Bar from the Middle Temple. He married Mary Isabel (c. 1862–1946),[3] who bore him two sons in the 1880s.[4] He died on 22 March 1923 at Birkenhead.[5]

Works

(ed.) The visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580, by Robert Glover, 1882

(ed.) Cheshire and Lancashire funeral certificates, A.D. 1600 to 1678, 1882

(ed.) The visitation of the county of Dorset, taken in the year 1623, by Henry Saint-George, 1885

(ed. with George Grazebrook) The Visitation of Shropshire Taken in the Year 1623 by Robert Tresswell, 1889

Notes on book-plates (ex libris) : with special reference to Lancashire and Cheshire examples, and a proposed nomenclature for the shapes of shields, 1889

(ed.) Lancashire and Cheshire wills and inventories, 1563 to 1807, now preserved at Chester, 1897

(ed.) Pedigrees made at the visitation of Cheshire, 1613 : taken by Richard St.-George esq., Norroy king of arms and Henry St.-George, gent., Bluemantle pursuivant of arms; and some other contemporary pedigrees, 1909