LOT 0348

Medieval Bronze Steelyard Weight with Heraldic Shields

CIRCA 1260-1300 A.D.

2 1/4 in. (615 grams, 56 mm).

Heavy with a lead core, spherical in form with pierced flange for suspension above and hatched band to the shoulder; an unusal unofficial copy with three heater shields with raised heraldic arms spaced equally around the body, etched geometric band of chevrons above. [No Reserve]

Ex Simmons Gallery, London E11, UK, in the 1990s.
From a North London collection.

For official examples see: Saunders, Peter and Eleanor, Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum Medieval Catalogue, Part 1, SSWM, 1991, p.48, item 1, for an example displaying the same heraldry; cf. Ward Perkins, J. B., Medieval Catalogue, London Museum Catalogues 7, 1940, p.173, item A2487, pl.XXXVIII, 2, for another example.

These heraldic steelyard weights were originally made under the official sanction of Richard (brother of King Henry III) or Edmund, Duke of Cornwall on behalf of the King; Edmund died in 1300 A.D. and such weights were banned in 1350. This example would most likely have been made unofficially towards the end of the period 1260-1300 A.D. The Hanseatic League was created in Germany to protect the interests and privileges of merchants in the medieval period, starting in Europe and with influence spreading to England from the 13th century.