Byzantine Silver Inlaid Sword Chape. 11th century A.D. An Eastern Roman Empire iron sword chape with domed, lentoid-section profile, one face ornamented with slender horizontal bands of faux ropework, darker, niello(?) bands between; pierced once at base for attachment. The chape is similar to an unpublished chape found near the Drastar battlefield (1087 A.D., fight between the Romans and the Pechenegs), and corresponds with the iconography of a typology of Byzantine chapes, see the Menologion of Basil II, Vaticanus graecus 1613 in Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1000 A.D., miniature Folio 95, Martyrium of Saints Sergios and Vakkos. 39.6 grams, 50 mm (2 in.) German art market, 1990. London collection formed before 2000. Property of an Worcestershire gentleman. In Byzantium, the sword was carried in a scabbard, called thekarion or kouleos. While the term kouleos only refers to the sword scabbard, thekarion refers to a sheath in general. Some craftsmen, the ?????????, were skilled in making and repairing the sword sheath or other scabbards. The scabbard was often wood (such as willow) or leather, and often both were used together, the leather serving as a lining, as a reinforcement material or as a decoration. In addition to these, other materials were also used, such as fabric or velvet. The scabbard was held together by means of metal fittings, placed at the mouth and at the tip, and reinforced by large metal chapes. [No Reserve]

Fair condition.