WOODEN SHRIEVAL ENGLISH DESK SEAL, TREWITHEN ESTATE, CORNWALL

Seal Detail

 A wood shrieval desk seal, English, dated 1866-7, turned in a light grained wood, of slender egg cup form with double spool stem, the integral circular matrix engraved with a coat of arms.

Inscribed in ink around the top: Christopher Henry Thomas Hawkins / Sheriff / 1866-7

Christopher Henry Thomas Hawkins (1820-1903), known as "CHT", inherited the Trewithen estate with its handsome house and gardens from his "prodigiously rich", unmarried uncle, Sir Christopher Hawkins, at the age of nine.  The estate had come into the Hawkins family in 1715 when it was purchased by Philip Hawkins who started the family tradition of garden innovation and improvement.  During CHT's minority, his father John, of Bignor Park, Sussex, looked after the estate, and extant letters between him and his Steward show that he took great interest in the welfare of Trewithen and its collection of splendid trees.  Family tradition states that CHT rarely visited Trewithen although he is recorded as High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1846.  It was CHT's heirs, descendants of his sister Mary, who were to bring about the Golden Age of Trewithen and its plantations of rhododendrons, camellias and magnolia so admired today.

Seal Specification

Height:  77mm

Diameter of matrix:  19mm 

Weight:  19g