
Customarily affixed by monarchs and their representatives to proclamations, writs, commissions, and other state documents-a practice dating back to Edward the Confessor in the eleventh century-such royal seals, with their depictions of sovereigns and other symbols of the realm, embodied royal and constitutional governance. Granted in 1785, the New Brunswick seal is significant because of the specificity of the pictorial image.
Excerpted from Fall/Winter 2015 Ornamentum. Click here to subscribe.
Michael J. Prokopow, Ph. D., is a cultural historian, curator, and critic. He holds the rank of Associate Professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies at OCAD University in Toronto where he serves as the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.
Royal Seal of the Colony of New Brunswick England
Hard wax and paper Circa 1825
Photograph: Michael Prokopow