Extremely rare example of an original wax seal of Lobengula, King of Matableleland and Mashonaland.  The British supplied Lobengula with three seals over the course of their dealings with him, this being the design that was used during the Rudd concession period of the 1880s, and may well be cut from one of the documents related to those early negotions that laid the foundations of Rhodesia.  The British Museum has an example in their collection, and the metal seal itself is kept at Groote Schuur in South Africa.  Mounted in an oak frame, 15 x 12.5cm.
The Rudd Concession was a written concession, completed on 30 October 1888, that gave exclusive mining rights in Matbeleland and Mashonaland  to Charles Rudd, James Rochefort Maguire and Francis Thompson who where acting on behalf of Cecil John Rhodes. It was the foundation for the Royal Charter granted by the United Kindom to Rhodes's British South Africa Company in 1889, and marked the beginning of white settlement in the country that eventually became known as Rhodesia. Lobengula later denied the valitity of the agreement, claiming that he had been hoodwinked by Rhodes, and a series of events began that led to the Matabele Wars and the destruction of his Reign.