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'Het behoorlijk zegel': seals at the Cape during the period of Dutch administration
Abstract
";Die seëlkunde is 'n belangrike hulpmiddel by baie gedeeltes van historiese navorsing. Die grootste komponent van ons heraldiese erfenis uit die VOC bewind aan die Kaap, bestaan uit lakafdrukke van seëls, 'n Seël is 'n gegraveerde matrys of stempel wat gebruik is om dokumente en ander voorwerpe te sertifiseer. Die term word ook gebruik vir die merk self. Lank voor die koms van skrif, is seëls gebruik om persoonlike besittings en afkoms (=origins) te merk. In Suider Afrika gaan die gebruik van seëls terug na die stigting van 'n verversingspos aan die Kaap deur die VOC die Kaap in 1652"; (DU TOIT)
Sigillography is an important auxiliary to many areas of historical research. The most significant component of our heraldic heritage from the VOC period at the Cape is to be found in the wax impressions of seals from that time. The seal is an engraved die or stamp used to certify documents and other property. The term is also used for the mark itself. Long before the widescale advent of reading and writing, seals were used to mark personal instruments. In Southern Africa the use of seals can be traced back to the establishment of a refreshment station by the VOC in 1652.
(SA J Cultural History: 2003 17(1): 91-114)