A matching set of large carved oak angel corbels circa 1450-1480, each holding a polychrome painted heraldic shield, the angels with hair in wavy rolls and with feathered wings, each surmounted by a crenelated parapet, one shield indigo with a gilt cross motif and the other red shield with a central horizontal gilt line and three gilt carved buckles, 53cm high and 50cm high

The Cell, Wyesham, Monmouthshire.

During the Medieval period Wyesham was the site of a chapel, the Church of St Thomas the Martyr; the site is first mentioned in 1186 in a papal bull of Urban III and was known as the King's Chapel by 1500. Its later history is somewhat chequered; it remained in use as a place of worship until becoming the vicarage of Dixton Church in 1740, subsequently by 1815 the local Poorhouse. It has been a private house since the end of the nineteenth century.

This pair of corbels exhibit characteristics which are typical of 15th Century workmanship including the arrangement of hair in rolls and the carved feathering detail seen here on the wings. Also characteristic are the crenelated parapets, which can be seen on three 15th Century angel corbels in the V&A Museum Collections (collection number W.21-1911; W.22-1911 and W.23-1911).

The red shield appears to bear the arms of Sotterley (Soterly) of Suffolk. The Dictionary of British Arms (Vol. III, p.379) notes the arms as: ‘Gules a fess between three buckles argent’ (ref. Ca Ms. L1 603, 4 and Suff. HN 26 - Suffolk Heraldic Notes by William Hervey [Society of Antiquaries Ms. 676]) where the buckles in Sotherley [sic] Church are described as ‘flory’. The church of St. Margaret of Antioch, Sotterley, Suffolk was built in the 14th century and corbel heads there depict the three buckles as the arms of the Sotterley family. Various other ecclesiastic artefacts and carvings have been documented at Sotterley church bearing the family arms.

Although the family that originated with Edmund de Soterle in the early part of the 14^th century was based mainly in Suffolk and Norfolk, they also owned further estates in Cheshire. The present corbels would most likely have originated from the Sotterley church or an associated building or tomb.

The indigo shield bears a medieval merchant mark. Merchant marks are regularly found in everyday medieval life as carvings above door frames or in letters and deeds validated by these distinctive devices in lieu of signature. Merchants’ marks may also be found inside churches - either engraved in stone or rendered upon stained-glass - to indicate donation toward restoration or otherwise an endowment. Upon the passing of a merchant, their mark would occasionally appear on their gravestone.

It is likely that this mark may either refer to the merchant mark of a member of the Sotterley family, another possibility may be that the mark was used as an emblem of a non-armigerous benefactor's generosity. An interesting parallel may be found in Lavenham Church, Suffolk, which owes its building chiefly to the rich clothiers who took advantage of the wool trade. His merchant's mark is on the plinth of the tower and at that time he had no coat of arms. A tantalisingly close design of a merchant's mark can be bound in that of John Gosse (Ipswich 15th century, see: Harleian Society vol. 108 (1959) ed. by Leslie Dow, Mark #84

We are indebted to Thomas Lloyd and Robert Colley for their kind assistance in this research.