In 1300, Nicole de Mailly, the wife of Jean de Nouvion, validated a charter with her seal, next to her husband’s. This seal image, showing the standing figure of the lady, flanked by two armorial shields, seems classical but for one detail : a squirrel is engraved on her hand, instead of a falcon or a lilian as was commonly done. Unusual seal images are very often the sign of a pun made with the seal owner’s name, surname or function. But squirrels are, generally speaking, featured eating a nut, just like this one, and on their owmn (unless they are heraldic). Perhaps it was an illustration of the need to break a seal, in order to read a letter or to open a sealed box, just like the squirrel needs to break the nut to eat the fruit inside. In the case of Nicole de Mailly’s seal, the rodent is part of a larger picture and takes the place of a meaningfull emblem : the falcon as a hunting symbol, a noble privilege, the lilian for lineage, a noble concern. There is indeed a pun in this image. The fruit inside a nut was called « nouvillon » or « noullon » in old French. The name of Nouvion is not engraved in the legend of the seal. But it’s alluded to by the image of the tiny squirrel eating its nut.