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Byzantine Art :
Byzantine Metalwork : Byzantine Lead Bullae
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Byzantine Lead Bullae - C.0736
Circa: 8th
th
Century AD
to 10th
th
Century AD
Medium: Lead
$3,000.00
Location: United States
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| Photo Gallery |
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| Description |
Obverse, depicts two facing, draped busts, both with
halo; reverse, six lines of Greek script as follows,
some now eligible [_ _ /_C??T/???C?_/???G??/
?????/_C???].
During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular,
Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the
sender of correspondence and containers in
shipment. After the cord was wrapped around the
package or document and the ends inserted in a
channel in the blank seal, the seal was placed
between the disc-shaped engraved dies on the jaws
of a boulloterion, a pair of pliers of sorts used to
impress the design.
The boulloterion had a projection above the jaws,
which was struck with a hammer to impress the
design on the seal and close the channel around the
two ends of the cord. With the bulla in place a
container cannot be violated without visible damage
to either the bulla or the cord, ensuring the contents
remain tamper-proof until they reach their
destination.
- (C.0736)
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