Details

LOT 0170

Byzantine Stone Jewellery Mould

10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/8 in. (136 grams, 79 mm).

Fitted with two channels running to a central circlet with the image of a saint cavalryman in the centre, surrounded by Greek letters A, O, O, E, C, OS, E, O; small holes to three of the corners for insertion of pegs. [No Reserve]

Provenance

UK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.

Literature

Cf. Adam-Veleni, P., Mylopoulos, Y., The Metro-nome of Thessaloniki’s History, Thessaloniki, 2018, p.167, for similar moulds.

Footnotes

Plates from mid-period jewellery moulds (10th-12th centuries) with the imprint of the jewellery to be made carved into one or both of the surfaces (earrings, buckles, clasps, beads of necklaces, etc.) were usually made of graphite schist, or other rocks. The plates were bound together in twos or threes by lead pins and the liquid metal was injected via conical openings. Similar tools were found in the 10th-12th levels of Thessaloniki.