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Item Details:
• Subject: Original 18th-Century Autograph Signature snippet cut from an official document, featuring a fine red armorial wax seal
• Signer: Selina Shirley (née Finch), Dowager Countess Ferrers (1681 – 1762)
• Date of Original Document: Dated 22 December 1737 (written in ink on mounting strip)
• Provenance Notation: \"Selina, Dowager Countess Ferrers Dec 22nd 1737.\"
• Material: Hand-cut vellum signature clip with original red wax armorial seal over linen ribbon, laid down onto an 18th/19th-century collector’s paper mounting strip
• Overall Mounting Strip Length: approx. 21.5 cm x 8.5 cm
• Cut Vellum Clip Length: approx. 14 cm x 5.5 cm
Historical Context & Detailed Biography:
This piece features the original contemporary signature \"Ferrers\", written alongside a crisp red armorial wax seal by Selina Shirley (née Finch), Dowager Countess Ferrers (1681 – 20 March 1762).
• Aristocratic Marriage & Family: Selina Finch was the daughter of George Finch. In August 1699, she became the second wife of Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers (1650–1717), styled Countess Ferrers. Together they had ten children, including Hon. Sewallis Shirley MP and Lady Selina Shirley (who married Peter Bathurst MP).
• Family Ties to Evangelical History: She was also step-grandmother to the famed Methodist leader and patroness Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (born Lady Selina Shirley).
• The Armorial Seal: The cut vellum clip retains its original 18th-century red heraldic wax impression over a woven textile/linen tag ribbon, displaying the official coat of arms used on legal deeds, indentures, and estate settlements during the reign of King George II.
Remarkability complete Georgian autograph and seal specimen on calf vellum. The red wax impression shows fine relief detail with light, natural age cracks typical of early 18th-century wax, securely attached to its woven ribbon. The vellum displays natural texture and light surface aging. Mounted onto an 18th/19th-century paper collector\'s strip with neat copperplate identification writing. Blank on the reverse.
18th Century, Georgian Era, George II, 1737, 1730s, Selina Finch, Selina Shirley, Countess Ferrers, Dowager Countess Ferrers, Earl Ferrers, Staunton Harold, Leicestershire, Twickenham, British Aristocracy, Peerage, Red Wax Seal, Armorial Seal, Heraldic Seal, Heraldry, Autograph, Ink Signature, Vellum Document, Manuscript Snippet, Cut Signature, Primary Source, Antique Ephemera, Peeress.
