Byzantine Bronze Christian Amulet Pendant – Crosses, Ring-and-Dot Symbols & Apotropaic Signs – Rare (No reserve price)

A piece of the past, made to be worn

Beautiful Byzantine Christian Bronze Amulet Pendant – Crosses, Ring-and-Dot Symbols & Apotropaic Signs – Rare Devotional Collector’s Piece

Object Type: Christian Amulet / Devotional Pendant
Culture: Byzantine / Eastern Christian
Period: Byzantine Period, ca. 6th–10th Century AD
Material: Bronze
Technique: Cast, Incised and Punched Decoratio

Dimensions
Height: 16.78 mm ±
Width: 15.36 mm ±
Weight: 1.09 g

A Cultural and Iconographic Assessment Certificate may be requested prior to shipment and prepared as a physical hard copy; all shipments are fully insured, warm museum-inspired lighting was used during photography to emphasize the object's surface, zoomorphic modelling and historic character naturally, and the suspension cord and other display accessories visible in the photographs are used exclusively for presentation and are not included with the object.

Description
This beautiful miniature bronze pendant preserves a remarkable composition of Christian and apotropaic signs arranged within an incised oval border. The field combines small crosses, prominent ring-and-dot motifs and abbreviated linear characters, creating the dense symbolic appearance characteristic of Byzantine personal devotional objects.
The individual signs do not permit a secure continuous Greek reading; they are more plausibly understood as abbreviated sacred or pseudo-epigraphic characters accompanying the crosses. Byzantine amulets are documented with abbreviated Christological formulae such as IC–XC, Alpha and Omega, invocations and protective inscriptions. Phoinix Platform Ring-and-dot ornament also occurs extensively on Early Byzantine bronze devotional pendants. British Museum
The suspension perforation interrupts the upper part of the decorated field and may therefore represent an adaptation made during a later phase of the object's use. Its miniature scale, dense sacred imagery and strongly preserved surface give this intimate devotional object a particularly distinctive character.

Information
The object has been documented using high-resolution imaging equipment, with its physical structure and form left entirely unaltered; only limited color-balance adjustments have been applied to ensure visual accuracy. As high-resolution imagery may influence the perception of scale, the photographs should always be considered together with the stated measurements.
Statements concerning dating, original function, cultural attribution, iconographic interpretation and material identification represent academic assessments based on typological comparison, comparative museum material and expert opinion; definitive conclusions would require direct physical and, where appropriate, laboratory examination.
The presentation and sale of this object are conducted in accordance with principles of transparency, scholarly consistency and good faith, and no object is knowingly presented as a copy or imitation.
Upon request prior to shipment, a signed ownership document issued in the buyer’s name may also be provided. If requested prior to dispatch, the Cultural and Iconographic Assessment Certificate will be prepared as a physical hard copy and included with the shipment.