Minoan stamp seal with leaves
€2,500
available
Object number
AR3520B
| Object: |
Minoan stamp seal with leaves
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| Material: |
Ivory from the african elephant. Ivory is a very rare material for Bronze Age seals from the Aegean (0.5% of the seals from CMS Volume XI, see publication list). A trade license for the EU has been granted. Export outside the EU is not permitted. |
| Period: |
Early Minoan II to Middle Minoan IA, C. 2700 BC to 1900 BC, Aegaen Bronze Age. |
| Description: |
Minoan stamp seal in the form of a flat roof. The stamp features a small, serrated leaf motif in the center, surrounded by a swirl of two leaves, extended by two more opposing leaves along the stamp's edge. A through hole along the ridge made it possible to thread the seal. Seals from the Bronze Age of the Aegean are rare. A seal made of ivory is an exceptional rarity. |
| Background: |
The Minoan seals of Crete offer a key to the Bronze Age world of the Minoans, whose culture flourished in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. These small, artfully engraved objects not only served as practical markings for goods and possessions, but also reflected religious ideas, social structures, and aesthetic principles. Glyptics developed into an independent art form on Crete. Animal depictions, cult scenes, and abstract symbols were carved into materials such as steatite, jasper, or agate. Compared to seals from Egypt or Mesopotamia, the Minoan pieces demonstrate remarkable originality, despite the close Mediterranean trade relations. For collectors and researchers, these seals are far more than artifacts. They are windows into a lost world whose secrets have aroused curiosity and the spirit of discovery since the time of Sir Arthur Evans. |
| Dimensions: |
Diameter 15.4mm to 16.5mm. Height 5.3mm. Hole diameter approximately 1.8mm.
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| Condition: |
Broken into two pieces along the ridge and glued together in modern times. The seal surface is partially bumped, although the imprint remains clearly visible. Overall, very good condition for an ivory seal from this period.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2023 on the German art market. Previously in the Grumach family collection. The founder Dr. Ernst Grumach acquired the seal before 1968. Dr. Ernst Grumach (1902–1967) was a broadly positioned scholar specializing in classical philology, Egyptology, and linguistics. He placed an emphasis on the proto-writings of the Bronze Age Aegean. His collection of Cretan seals was created with a keen eye for significant pieces. It was studied by Ingo Pini, presumably in the 1960s during Dr. Grumach's lifetime, and later published with funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research. |
| Publications: |
Described in detail and illustrated in Ingo Pini, Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel (CMS), Band XI Kleinere europäische Sammlungen, p. 81, no. 72 (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz, 1988). Digitized in Arachne, the central object database of the German Archaeological Institute, Arachne-ID 1160101. Report from 2023 by state-certified expert Guenther Heckmann, which deals with the dating and material of this and another seal. |
| Literature: |
Relevant publications by or about Dr. Ernst Grumach, E. Grumach, Bibliographie der kretisch-mykenischen Epigraphik (Berlin and Munich, 1961). Festschrift for the 65. birthday of Ernst Grumach (posthum), W. C. Brice, Studien zur Geschichte und Epigraphik der frühen Aegaeis (Berlin, 1967). |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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