Sir Thomas More's Chain of Office

Sir Thomas More's Chain of Office, sketch by Colleen Westman

Description

This striking chain of office, commonly referred to as the "SS collar" was an insignia of public service reserved for knights and nobility, and later for England's chief justices. In the center is the Tudor rose, attached to the Ss on either side by a "portcullis," a design imitating the heavy latticed gateways of a fortress.