A Few Thoughts About Ancient Coins on Our Website

Although Clio Ancient Art deals primarily in antiquities and ancient art - bronze sculptures and utilitarian objects, glass vessels & objects, ceramic vessels, oil lamps, even textiles - we do try to carry a variety of ancient coins.

Our selection of ancient coins is, admittedly, rather atypical. While many ancient coin dealers focus on strictly "Classical" coins, that is, Greek and Roman coins, we try to offer both these and a wide variety of coins influenced in some way by classical antiquity. These include coins from the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic world, the Indian subcontinent, the European Middle Ages and cultures tangential to the broader Greco-Roman world.

Here are a few samples of both Classical and other ancient and Medieval coins on our website; enjoy  --

*  Roman Empire, Bronze Follis of Maximinus II, AD 310-311: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i275.html

* Roman Provincial, Bronze 4.5 Assaria of Gordion III & Tranquillina: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i427.html

*  Himyarite Kingdom. Amdin Bayyan. Silver Hemiobol. circa AD 100: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i266.html

*  Islamic, Samanid Dynasty, Bronze Fals of Mansur I, AD 961-976: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i425.html

*  India, Western Satraps, Silver Drachm of Rudrasimha II, AD 305-313: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i424.html

A Great Resource: Our Books & Publications Page includes framed & unframed antique prints dealing with antiquity, out of print and hard to find antiquities research journals, antiquarian books, antiquities auction catalogs and much more...

A Great Resource: Our Books & Publications Page includes framed & unframed antique prints dealing with antiquity, out of print and hard to find antiquities research journals, antiquarian books, antiquities auction catalogs and much more...

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c25_p1.html

Tiny, Rare and Noteworthy: A Group of Byzantine Buttons on Our Website

Overlooked by collectors and museums visiting our website to acquire higher profile antiquities, such as Greek vases, Egyptian burial items or Roman sculptures, is a group of 3 tiny buttons in various materials, dating to the middle Byzantine era. These are exceptionally rare and deserve to be highlighted here. Link: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i205.html

The history of buttons is rather hazy, with button-like objects of uncertain use appearing in the archaeological record as far back as 2000 BCE. The first functional buttons, appearing in the Roman Imperial age, were limited in their use to elite members of society and were intended as much for decoration as practicality. But with the infusion of migratory cultures from the Eurasian steppe into Western Europe and the Balkans at the end of Antiquity and during the early Middle Ages, functional buttons became widespread. There is conjecture that the use of buttons in place of other fasteners (brooches and pins) resulted as much from colder climate conditions beginning around the same time as the fall of the western provinces Roman Empire, as much as from new cultural influences. In any case, Byzantine society adopted the use of buttons quickly.

The 3 buttons in our group are each made from different materials: bone, rock crystal and what appears to be steatite (soap stone). The simple steatite example is relatively common, with other examples in a variety of common stones known from excavations. By contrast, the bone example is quite elaborately worked with multiple fields of decoration involving both incision and infilling the incised decoration with a resistant material, possibly pitch. Very similar examples have been found in Byzantine layers at Corinth. This belonged to an elite individual whose clothing must certainly have reflected their status. Although its function is obvious, the small rock crystal example may be unique; we have not yet found documentation of another excavated and dated example in rock crystal, which was highly valued. Such a button would also have come from the garments of a high status individual.

Tiny as these objects are, they do offer just a glimpse into Byzantine society in its middle phase, the 9th to 13th Centuries. Their survival is, as with so many antiquities, a minor miracle.

To see more Byzantine antiquities on our website, visit these pages:
http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c26_p1.html   and   http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c21_p1.html

Every Coin Tells A Story: A Survivor from the Cilician Kingdom of Armenia

The silver coin pictured here, a “Tram” of the Cilician Armenian ruler Levon I, is a survivor from a rather remarkable episode in the Medieval history of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Our story begins far to the east, with the conquest of much of the Middle East by the Seljuk Turks. Fleeing their original homelands in what had been the ancient Kingdom of Armenia, long a pawn in the conflicts between the Roman and Persian Empires, thousands of Armenians established a principality in what today is the southernmost coastal region of Turkey and the northernmost coastal region of Syria. During the final quarter of the 11th Century, under the first King of the Rubenid Dynasty, they declared independence from the Byzantine empire. Our coin was issued by Levon I, perhaps the most successful ruler during this initial phase of the Kingdom’s history.

Although the new Kingdom prospered economically due to its geography, which included an arc of high mountains providing some degree of protection and a narrow but fertile coastal plain that featured several good ports for trade, it was always at risk and short on allies. Nearly surrounded by hostile Islamic states, at various times it allied itself with the new Mongol rulers of Iran, Mesopotamia and Syria, the Ilkhanids, who were not yet fully converted to Islam, occasionally with the Byzantine Empire to the north and especially with the European Crusader states that sprang up along the Levantine coast shortly after its own birth (see also a coin of the Crusader Principality of Antioch & County of Tripoli on our website: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i280.html) .

One outcome of the Crusader alliance was extensive marriage between the new Crusader aristocracy and the 2 Armenian ruling families, the Rubenids and Hetumids. The Hetumids later formed a close marriage based alliance with the Frankish Lusignan Dynasty, who ruled the nearby Island of Cyprus. On our coin, this western influence is clearly visible, even during the Kingdom’s early years– http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i300.html. On the reverse is the Armenian rampant lion while the obverse includes a forward facing seated king holding a sceptre topped with the Frankish fleur-de-lis.

Conducting business in any of the Cilician ports or towns during the Kingdom’s almost 300 year history would have involved a bewildering array of currency. In addition to the silver and bronze coinage issued by the official mints of Armenian Cilicia, accepted forms of currency included Venetian, Genoese and Pisan coinage, Islamic Dirhems issued by the Mamluks, Ilkhanids and other local dynasties, and coins issued by the various Crusader principalities. While all of these had a rough, easy to understand relationship to one another based on weight of precious metal, implementing this in actual practice would have called for both good math skills and shrewd bargaining skills.

Despite intermarriage with the Lusignans, the Cillician Armenian Kingdom could not survive onslaughts from the powerful Mamluk rulers based in Egypt, who had effectively halted the Mongol advance. By the early 14th Century, the Mongol rulers of the Middle East had converted to Islam and the Crusader states along the coast of Palestine had all fallen or been abandoned, thus depriving the Armenians of key allies. The Kingdom fell in 1375, and the last King of Cilician Armenia died in exile in Paris in 1396.

This relatively minor but remarkable chapter in history serves to remind us of the religious, political and philosophical complexities of that part of the world, as we should be very much aware from recent news. The improbability of this chapter also reminds us that truth is always stranger than fiction. Of course, this is the beauty of ancient and medieval coinage; it always tells a fascinating story and sometimes provides the only clues to understanding particular events in history.

Clio's Start of Summer / 4th of July Sale

Hello Customers, Friends & Fans of Clio Ancient Art:

It’s that time of year! Time for our annual Start of Summer / 4^th of July Sale.

Between today, Sunday, June 23 and Thursday, July 4, you may take advantage of the following discounts offered on our website –

·        15% off ALL Cypriot, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Etruscan, Near Eastern, Migration Period and Early Islamic antiquities, regardless of current price.

·        10% off any books, catalogs, magazines, framed or unframed artwork in our books and publications page priced at over $30.

·        10% off any ancient or medieval coins priced at over $30.

Here are links to all categories on our site–

·          Cypriot Antiquities: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c1_p1.html

·         Egyptian Antiquities: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c2_p1.html

·         Greek, Hellenistic & Greek South Italian Antiquities: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c3_p1.html

·         Roman Antiquities (3 pages):  http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c15_p1.html

http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c16_p1.html and http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c17_p1.html

·         Etruscan, European, Migration, Byzantine, Islamic & Near Eastern Antiquities 2 pages): http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c26_p1.html and http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c21_p1.html

·         Ancient Glass (2 pages): http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c13_p1.html and http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c24_p1.html

·         Ancient Oil Lamps: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c14_p1.html

·         Ancient Jewelry & Personal Adornment: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c19_p1.html

·         Ancient Coins: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c18_p1.html

·         Books & Art: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c25_p1.html

Thank you for reading.

Best wishes,

Chris M. Maupin

Clio Ancient Art & Antiquities

 

Just Added to our Website - Superb Greek South Italian Red Figure Lekanis

Here's the link: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i430.html

The Ubiquitous Unguentarium

No other type of ancient Roman glass vessel is so widespread and common a find as the unguentarium (plural: unguentaria). As the name suggests, it was intended as a container for precious liquids, such as scented oils for personal or funerary use, medicinal creams and herbals for culinary use.

This type of vessel’s origins rest in the Hellenistic period and earlier, when roughly spindle shaped containers in ceramic were quite common. With the introduction of glass blowing on a large scale in the first century, AD, glass unguentaria rapidly replaced ceramic containers. Unlike pottery, glass has the advantage of imparting no taste or scent to its contents.

While the basic form — a bulbous lower body, long narrow neck, usually with a constriction somewhere along its length, and a flared rim — is common to all unguentaria, the range of specific forms is tremendous. The example illustrated above (Link: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i62.html) is a quite uncommon miniature example. More typical perhaps is this example: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i60.html

One particularly striking variation on the basic theme is the so-called candlestick unguentarium. Here are 2 variations on that theme: http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i117.html and http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i81.html

Visitors to museums, when viewing displays of Roman glass, often ask where the lids or stoppers to these vessels are. In most cases, these were made from organic materials, including tightly wound plant fiber or wood. Examples excavated at Romano-Egyptian sites have been found with these organic materials intact, due to the extremely dry conditions.

There are many excellent sources we could recommend dealing with the ubiquitous unguentarium but here are two, in particular –
* Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, Volume One, David Whitehouse, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, 2007. This tremendous work includes 87 fully illustrated and described examples of unguentaria (author uses the term “Toilet Bottles).
* Roman Glass, Reflections of Everyday Life, Stuart J. Fleming, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1997. This is a particularly good source for building an understanding of how these humble glass vessels were actually used in the lives of the ancient Romans.

Here are links to additional examples of ancient Roma glass unguentaria on our website –
* http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i397.html
* http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i59.html
* http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/i415.html

For all types of ancient glass on our website, follow these links –
* http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c13_p1.html
and
* http://www.clioancientart.com/catalog/c24_p1.html