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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]
ProvenanceEx 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.
FootnotesThese heraldic steelyard weights were originally made under the official sanction of Richard (brother of King Henry III) or Edmund, Duke of Cornwall on behalf of the King; Edmund died in 1300 A.D. and such weights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.
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Medieval Iron Knife with Bronze Pommel
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Comprising a single cutting edge; scale tang with pommel formed as a bifacial crown with incised detailing; Netherlands. 31 grams, 18.3 cm
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Knife handles can be classified according to their method of attachment into whittle and scale-tang handles. Whittle-tang handles were the most common type used in the early medieval period. Whittle tang handles (like here) were more common later and fixed by pushing the pointed end of the knife tang into the handle.
