Object Type
This brass case was made to contain sealing-wax, which was used in the past with a seal or signet ring to secure letters and documents. Molten wax would be dropped on a letter or document and then stamped with the owner's seal. The recipient would recognise the sender from the design on the seal and could tell at a glance that the contents had been read if the seal was broken. Sealing-wax cases are usually small so that they could be carried in the pocket. One of the hinged ends of this example is engraved with a flower and the owner's initials I. B. and would have been used as a seal.

Maker
This is one of a number of similar small brass cases and boxes produced by a craftsman working in Sheffield in the mid-17th century. The wares he produced bear dates ranging from 1652 to 1656. The punchwork inscription 'I was in Sheffeid made & many can Witness: I was not made by any man' has been linked to another inscription, virgo me fecit ('a maiden made me'), found on similar small brass wares. Both refer to a maker of brasswares named Maden or Madin. A family of cutlers with this surname was working in Sheffield in the late 17th century and this craftsman was probably one of their forebears.

Design
Some of these sealing-wax cases are decorated with distinctly Royalist symbols, such as crowned portraits of Charles I. All the brass cases by this maker discovered so far bear dates within the period of the Commonwealth (1649-60). It has been suggested that they were made specifically for Royalist supporters. The cryptic inscriptions in Latin were an ingenious way of concealing the true identity of the maker at a time when Royalist sympathies were unfashionable and dangerous.