Stamp piston

In the cases, where the number of craftsmen was too small to form a guild on their own, craftsmen working in related professions got together to form a single association. In Złocieniec they were blacksmiths of various kinds. Thanks to the objects shown in the seal, we know that the city had manufacturers of gun locks, padlocks, keys and various types of hammers. In modern parlance, we would refer to these craftsmen as locksmiths. Blacksmiths, who dealt with shoeing horses and work that did not require much precision, marked their membership in the guild with an image of a horseshoe and pliers for pulling nails from hooves. The appearance of the seal enables us to assume that it was designed and made by one of the members of this guild, making the term “blacksmith’s work” extremely appropriate. The author of the seal put a lot of work into it, but his work shows the shortcomings of the skill, as well as lack of proper tools. The lack of letter punches made it necessary to carve the letters by hand, and the lack of engraving tools shows in the imprecise lines. All of this resulted in an unappealing end result. The working part of the seal was engraved in bronze, and then welded to an iron base, topped with a slender ball handle.

Mieszko Pawłowski