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Byzantine Art :
Byzantine Bread Stamps : Byzantine Bronze Bread Stamp
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Byzantine Bronze Bread Stamp - OF.044
Origin: Mediterranean
Dimensions:
1.65" (4.2cm) high
x 3.3" (8.4cm) wide
Collection: Byzantine Art
Medium: Bronze
Additional Information: Korea
£5,000.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
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During the Roman era, bakeries were
required
to
stamp their bread with an individual seal in
order
to trace the source of the loaves and to
prevent
fraud or theft of imperial supplies. Upon
the
birth of the Byzantine Empire, bread
stamps
were
still used, although their purpose had
significantly changed. Although varying
greatly in
size and shape, the common
characteristic of
Byzantine bread stamps was the
emphasis in
drawing fracture lines that indicated to the
priest
where to cut the loaf. These lines become
even
more important on Eucharistic stamps
that
marked the consecrated bread for
communion.
Square-shaped bread stamps are more
rare
than
their circular counterparts because the
loaves
themselves were round. A square shape
pressed
into a round loaf tends to distort the
roundness
of the loaf. Square loaves were not
feasible,
since
the corners would brown and harden
before
the
rest of the loaf, not to mention the
difficulty in
keeping the loaf square once the yeast
begins
taking effect. Thus, this stamp would have
once
been pressed into a round loaf. As the loaf
baked
in the oven, the stamped image would
grow
larger as the loaf expanded. After the
bread
was
finished baking and cooled, the loaf would
be
cut
into pieces, leaving the stamped piece
intact.
- (OF.044)
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