A very rare brakteate absent, among others, from the outstanding medieval collection from our 10th auction.
One of the brakteates with iconography depicting a ruler in a building, known from a number of brakteates of various Piast rulers from the late 12th/early 13th century. This type, according to Edmund Kopicki, is attributed to the Silesian minting of Henry I the Bearded or Henry II the Pious. Distinguished, among other things, by the absence of an inscription on the arch's moulding and the bust in front. Very difficult to attribute, as Witold Garbaczewski points out:
"Purely stylistically it is an unspecified Piast brakteat from the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. The diameter is small for classical flat brakteates. The low relief would indicate the early 13th century. I would date it to the period around 1190-1220, with a large question mark."
Depiction: a half-figure in a cloak standing in front, holding an object on a long staff in his right hand. The figure under the arch of a building (in the gate?) with two towers and a conical dome centrally.
The rarity of the type may be evidenced by the fact that the closest type to the brakteat illustrated in "Iconography" is a piece that is almost half missing.
First time in our offer.
Silver, diameter 16 mm, weight 0.15 g.
