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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Descrizione dettagliata lotto

"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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