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LOT 0194
Late Byzantine Silver Spoon with 'St Peter' Inscription on the Handle
LATE 6TH-8TH CENTURY A.D.
8 1/2 in. (60.77 grams, 21.5 cm).
Featuring a large, shallow piriform bowl, stepped junction with a boar's head above, a hexagonal-section stem extending from behind the boar's neck bearing a Greek inscription 'TTETPOY' (of Peter); a balustered handle with a cuboid, striated finial.
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market.
Private collection, Surrey, UK.
Cf. Shelton, K.J., The Esquiline Treasure, London, 1981, item 27, for type; Wamser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Östliches Erbe, München, 2004, item 909.
FootnotesThe inscription suggests that the spoon may have had a liturgical purpose, associated with the Holy Communion. Still today in the Orthodox Church, the Body and Blood of Christ are dispensed with similar liturgical objects. The name Peter can be associated with the church, or simply with the owner of the liturgical artefact.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0194
Late Byzantine Silver Spoon with 'St Peter' Inscription on the Handle
Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
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Byzantine Lead Cross Pendant
Circa 6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Heavy equal-armed cross with raised borders and a raised central cross motif, integral loop. 27.8 grams, 40 mm
From the private coin collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the mid 1980s. -
Byzantine Terracotta Oil Lamp
Circa 7th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Piriform body with raised edge to the filler hole and low-relief linear decoration on the body, the base with a rosette. 110 grams, 94 mm
From the collection of a Cambridge, UK, gentleman, by direct descent from his father, who acquired the items in London in circa 1960. -
Byzantine Carved Agate Cameo of The Holy Banquet
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,420
Plano-convex in section with low-relief carving: scene with a meal at a so-called sigma table surrounded by Christ, Peter, John and the other disciples; Christ and Peter attending and beardless Saint John the Evangelist preparing the fish. 9.95 grams, 32 mm
From a North American gentleman's collection, 1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13368-259040.
In early Byzantine art, Saint Peter is often depicted as the only figure apart from Christ to be shown with a nimbus, to emphasise his pre-eminent position as a church father and the 'rock' of the church.
