R20

Roman bronze bread-stamp

£400

A good quality cast bronze ring-mounted bread stamp with a high-relief inscription reading VRPMA.

Bread was probably the most important staple food in Roman settlements and loaves were often stamped with the baker's name as a form of advertising but also on occasions by donors who would give bread to the poor in order to solicit their votes when running for public office.

Roman, 1st or 2nd Century AD

Intact as shown

Size: 4.6 x 2.7 cms

Ex. German private collection. A 19th Century Berlin publication mentions this inscription but does not state specifically which object it was recorded on except that it was a "domestic utensil"; it seems likely that this bread stamp was the source of the recorded information.


www.heliosgallery.com

Antiquities  |Books   |Ordering   |Postage   |Contact us |Email   |Links  

|Shopping cart   |Mailing list   |Home

 

© 1996 - 2008 www.heliosgallery.com®, Inc. All rights reserved.