Casgliadau Arlein

Obverse. The King crowned and enthroned, wearing a flowing cloak fastened at his breast with a clasp, a tippet over which a collar (? of St George) and a ruff; in the monarch’s left hand, an orb topped by a short cross, in his right hand a sceptre held obliquely. The throne is of Renaissance style, the upper back is carved shell-shaped, with a canopy of ample curtains upheld by two human or angelic figures who form the stops of the lateral supports to the throne. On the canopy is a large ornamental shield: quarterly, 1 and 4. Quarterly, FRANCE (Modern) and ENGLAND; 2. SCOTLAND; 3. IRELAND. The monarch’s feet rest on a dais with curved front, the foreground being charged (on fine impressions) with rose, fleur-de-lis or thistle, alternately. To the sides of the throne, dext. a lion sejant reguardant, crowned and holding on a lance a flag charged with the cross of St George; sin. a unicorn sejant reguardant, gorged with a coronet, similarly holding a flag charged with the cross of St Andrew. A small fleur-de-lis occurs within the initial C of the legend, thus differencing it from the First Seal which bears many similarities.