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A trader's sign on a bale.
Also known as: Merchant house sign, Bale mark
The personal mark a merchant used to identify goods, seals and property.
Identifies goods, seals and property as belonging to a particular merchant.
Contexts: History
The figure-four element on so many of them is usually explained as a Christianised form of a mark, though the derivation is a scholarly proposal rather than a documented one.
The origin of the figure-four element is proposed rather than attested.
Contexts: History
Functioned as a trademark before trademark law existed, and marks were defended by guilds and courts on that basis.
Contexts: History
A figure combining straight strokes with a cross or a figure-four topping a staff, marked on bales, barrels, seals and memorial brasses.