CIRCA 6TH CENTURY A.D.

Details

A BYZANTINE BRONZE JUG AND TRIPOD BASE
CIRCA 6TH CENTURY A.D.
The jug of hammered sheet, the rounded body on a convex base, with sloping shoulders, a band of incised herringbone below the cylindrical neck, the spouted rim and braided handle separately cast, with a knobbed foliate thumb rest and a leaf-shaped handle-plate, the upper surface of the rim with a punched Greek inscription framed by a cross at each end, reading, Kodratrou Dometiou; the tripod base cast, circular in form with a descending openwork band of rings and darts between the feet, each with a cloven hoof
12 ¼ in. (31.1 cm.) high

Provenance

with Jean-Philippe Mariaud de Serres, Paris, 1988.
Acquired by the Cattaui family, Switzerland, prior to 1993.

Literature

H. Smith MacIsaac, "Classical Profiles," in House & Garden, February 1988, p. 164.

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Lot Essay

"Kodratrou Dometiou" is the genitive form of two saints names, Kodratos and Dometios respectively. The names are not accompanied by the title "Agios" or "Saint," which could indicate a relatively early date, since in the middle and later Byzantine period, saints were consistently addressed with such nomenclature. The vessel was perhaps used in a liturgical context in a church in which both saints were venerated.

For a single-handled jug of similar style, also with incised herringbone on the shoulders, see no. 57 in H.C. Evans and B. Ratliff, eds., Byzantium and Islam, Age of Transition.

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