| Ancient Seals |  |
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| Eastern India, Buddhist Terracotta Votive Sealing, c. 8th Century |   | At holy sites and temples Buddhist pilgrims would purchase small votive offerings, to present to the shrine to be interred inside a stupa, or to take home as a memento. Votive offerings varied from place to place and over time. They were often made of terracotta and included small plaques, stupas, and sealings. The various sealings texts include meaningless pseudo-writing, repeated mantras, passages from the Ramayana, the Buddhist creed, prayers, etc. Because few early Buddhist manuscripts have survived in India, the writings found on these humble sealings provide a rare glimpse of the various scripts used in India in ancient and early medieval times. -- http://papyri.tripod.com/buddhist/introsealings.html |
| AB54488. cf. Zwalf 1985, p. 33 and nos. 144 - 146; edge chips, maximum diameter 25 mm, obverse Sanskrit text: the Buddhist Creed; reverse undecorated; mica sparkling in the clay, ex Alex G. Malloy; $45.00 (€34.65) |
| Eastern India, Buddhist Terracotta Votive Sealing, c. 8th Century |  | At holy sites and temples Buddhist pilgrims would purchase small votive offerings, to present to the shrine to be interred inside a stupa, or to take home as a memento. Votive offerings varied from place to place and over time. They were often made of terracotta and included small plaques, stupas, and sealings. The various sealings texts include meaningless pseudo-writing, repeated mantras, passages from the Ramayana, the Buddhist creed, prayers, etc. Because few early Buddhist manuscripts have survived in India, the writings found on these humble sealings provide a rare glimpse of the various scripts used in India in ancient and early medieval times. -- http://papyri.tripod.com/buddhist/introsealings.html |
| AB54492. cf. Zwalf 1985, p. 33 and nos. 144 - 146; edge chip and chipped area of text, maximum diameter 31 mm, obverse Sanskrit text: the Buddhist Creed; reverse undecorated; mica sparkling in the clay, ex Alex G. Malloy; $45.00 (€34.65) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 5th - 12th Century |  | During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular, Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the sender of correspondence and containers in shipment. An iron, pliers-shaped instrument, a boulloterion, was used to impress the designs on a lead bulla seal. 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. 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 a 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. |
| BB53464. Lead bulla (tag seal), unused blank(?), weight 6.121 g, maximum diameter 26.9 mm, ex Alex G. Malloy; $24.00 (€18.48) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 8th - 9th Century |  | A Bulla (plural, Bullae), is a lump of clay or lead molded around a cord and stamped with a seal that identifies the sender. With a bulla in place a container cannot be violated without visible damage to either the bulla or the cord, thereby ensuring the contents remain tamper-proof until they reach their destination. |
| BB53487. Lead bulla (tag seal), cf. Zacos 1979 - 1983, weight 11.245 g, maximum diameter 26.4 mm, obverse ΘΕΟΤΟΚΕ ΒΟΗΘΕΙ in cruciform monogram (invocation of the Virgin "God-bearer"), in the angles, TW - CW/ ∆OV- ΛW in quarters; reverse Greek inscription; ex Alex G. Malloy; $24.00 (€18.48) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 5th - 12th Century |  | During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular, Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the sender of correspondence and containers in shipment. An iron, pliers-shaped instrument, a boulloterion, was used to impress the designs on a lead bulla seal. 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. 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 a 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. |
| BB53492. Lead bulla (tag seal), very large, weight 40.994 g, maximum diameter 39.7 mm, $22.00 (€16.94) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 5th - 12th Century |  | During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular, Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the sender of correspondence and containers in shipment. An iron, pliers-shaped instrument, a boulloterion, was used to impress the designs on a lead bulla seal. 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. 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 a 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. |
| BZ49880. Lead bulla (tag seal), weight 20.010 g, maximum diameter 23.3 mm, obverse facing bust, crowned?; reverse cruciform monogram, large pellet in lower left quarter; very thick, bronze patina, ex Alex G. Malloy; $18.00 (€13.86) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 5th - 12th Century |  | During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular, Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the sender of correspondence and containers in shipment. An iron, pliers-shaped instrument, a boulloterion, was used to impress the designs on a lead bulla seal. 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. 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 a 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. |
| BB53466. Lead bulla (tag seal), unused blank(?), weight 9.594 g, maximum diameter 21.3 mm, ex Alex G. Malloy; $16.00 (€12.32) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 11th Century |  | A Bulla (plural, Bullae), is a lump of clay or lead molded around a cord and stamped with a seal that identifies the sender. With a bulla in place a container cannot be violated without visible damage to either the bulla or the cord, thereby ensuring the contents remain tamper-proof until they reach their destination. |
| BB53372. Lead bulla (tag seal), weight 9.766 g, maximum diameter 25.5 mm, obverse Greek inscription; reverse Greek inscription; ex Alex G. Malloy; $14.00 (€10.78) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 5th - 12th Century |  | During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular, Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the sender of correspondence and containers in shipment. An iron, pliers-shaped instrument, a boulloterion, was used to impress the designs on a lead bulla seal. 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. 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 a 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. |
| BB53493. Lead bulla (tag seal), weight 6.726 g, maximum diameter 24.8 mm, ex Alex G. Malloy; $13.00 (€10.01) |
| Byzantine Empire, Lead Bulla Seal, c. 5th - 12th Century |  | During the Byzantine period, lead bullae (singular, Bulla) were widely used to seal and identify the sender of correspondence and containers in shipment. An iron, pliers-shaped instrument, a boulloterion, was used to impress the designs on a lead bulla seal. 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. 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 a 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. |
| BB53344. Lead bulla (tag seal), weight 5.621 g, maximum diameter 17.2 mm, ex Alex G. Malloy; $12.00 (€9.24) |
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