Hi, all. I think the object on the
obverse of this small lead
tessera is a foot, but any other ideas are welcome. A foot or lower
leg with boot or sandal is a known
type for
amulets, gems, and
tesserae. Bonner lists a beautiful
red jasper magical
gem (CBd-4167) showing a human foot surmounted by a
bust of
Serapis.
Wildwinds references a large (22mm.) lead
tessera (Plomos p25, 12v) from "
Spain,
Republican times", with a foot in a laced up boot on one
side and a tripod(?);
amphora,
star, and wheel on the other.
Acsearch.info lists a similarly sized
tessera, also from
Spain, with
obverse, Foot r. /
reverse,
Head of
mule or donkey (Plomos p24, 9). And the recently published Boersema, Dalzell
catalogue of the Tom Vossen
Collection (no. 220) shows a pair of shoes on a
Roman lead seal. The
reverse of our
tessera bears just the faintest remains of an image inside an
incuse circular
border. I can not make any guess as to what it might be. Thanks, V-drome
BCC LT99
Lead
TesseraCaesarea Maritima
1st to 4th Century CE
Obv: Foot? to right.
Rev:
Incuse circular
border with
very faint traces of an undetermined
design.
12 x 11 x 1.75mm 1.39gm.
Axis:NA
Surface find
Caesarea Maritima, 1975
