One way to gauge the relative quality of the workmanship of the sealers is to compare their seals with those of goldsmiths, who could also make seals. The nature of their seals suggests that they could use them to advertise their technical skills and to identify themselves with their craft. Deodatus the Goldsmith, for example, was a contemporary of Henry de Keles [A]. He appears as a witness to an exchange of land in the parish of All Hallows Bread Street in 1277–78, which suggests he was associated with that part of the city.⁸³ He also acted as an executor for the draper Roger Beynin, who held land in several parts of the city, including St Mildred Bread Street.⁸⁴ Deodatus had at least two different seals which share a similar design. The first is a rounded oval, 25 × 20 mm, with a male face intertwined with a beast; two impressions dated 1277–78 and 1286–87 of this seal are known (Fig. 5.5).⁸⁵ His second seal, which he used on a document dated 1277–78, is a rounded oval, 23 × 17 mm, which displays two male faces intertwined with a horse’s head and back legs (Fig. 5.6).⁸⁶ The two seals are unmistakably different, but their similarities underline Deodatus’ desire to be associated with this type of device. The intricate engraving testifies to an exceptional technical facility and suggests a certain visual sophistication. Another goldsmith, William de Faringdon, who was active within the period 1265–94, had a contrasting seal. He was associated with the north-west of London, where he held land in the parish of St Sepulcher Holborn and served as alderman for the ward of Farringdon, but he was certainly acquainted with Deodatus because he acted as a witness for him on at least one occasion.⁸⁷ William’s seal displays an ornate covered cup flanked on either side by broaches (Fig. 5.7).⁸⁸ Once again, this is high quality engraving, but the motif also announces William’s occupation. The objects represented on his seal were fabricated by goldsmiths; moreover, the motif appears on another contemporary goldsmith’s seal, and it was adopted as part of the company’s emblem by the fifteenth century.⁸⁹ Through his seal, William was asserting his identification with the goldsmith’s craft. Seals were a flexible medium of communication and they could be used to make a wide range of different types of statements, as the seals of these two goldsmiths suggest. Nonetheless, both the goldsmiths and the sealers had the capacity to produce high quality goods, and thus the similarities in their economic standing are easier to explain. The sealers, just like the goldsmiths, had specialised and sophisticated skills that enabled them to add considerable value to the materials they worked with.