Silver medallion for dog hero sells at auction

Modern(ish)

A Late Victorian medallion presented to a poodle named Zulu by an insurance company for his heroic efforts during a house fire has sold at a Woolley & Wallis auction in Salisbury. The pre-sale estimate was £400 – £600 ($536 – $804). It sold for £762 ($1,021).

The little black poodle named Zulu barked when a fire broke out at the Glasgow home of Mr. Montague W.Baird, drawing attention to the fire when it still small enough to control. It was the night of December 26th, 1897, the Feast of Stephen, and the insurance company was so grateful for his decisive action in saving them from a really big bill they gave him a medal.

The medallion is sterling silver, topped with a pierced ribbon finial. On the front is a handsome enamel black poodle in the center with an inscription below that reads: “Presented to ‘Zulu’ by Alliance Assurance Company For Services Rendered 26th Dec 1897.” On the reverse is the crest of Alliance Assurance: a castle on a hill with a banner bearing the logo “Multi societate tutiores,” meaning “safer together in a group.”

The lot comes with 13 original letters by Mr. Baird and the insurance company representatives.

Stuart Lawrey, the secretary of the Assurance Company, wrote to Baird on February 2, 1898:

“With reference to our recent conversation, we beg to state that we have made further inquiries into the matter and we are overbound to admit the indebtedness of the company to your black poodle, Zulu, for his behavior on the occasion of the recent fire in your dwelling house. Without doubt, the dog exhibited exceptional sagacity in his persistent and successful endeavor to call the attention of your servants to the outbreak. We cannot say to what serious dimensions the fire might have attained and consequent danger to, and possibly loss of, life but for this little animal’s timely warning and under the circumstances which are very unique, we should be happy if you would obtain a silver medal for your dog collar. Bearing an inscription and suitable for the occasion and recording the interesting event, the expense of which we shall be very pleased to meet.”

The medallion on its foot and pedestal is just three inches high, so it’s possible the medal alone was worn by Zulu as a collar ornament, but given how it’s mounted, I suspect it was for his trophy case only.

12th c. bronzes of Hindu deities found in southern India

Medieval

Two 12th century bronzes of Hindu deities from the Chola Empire have been discovered in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India. They depict the deities Nataraja, the dancing form of Shiva, and Sivakami Amman, a form of the goddess Parvati and consort of Shiva. They are the first example of bronze statues of their kind unearthed in a scientific excavation by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology.

The Nataraja is the larger of the two at 110 cm high and 100 cm wide. Shiva has for arms and one leg raised crossed over the over, dancing the Anansa Tandava, the dance of bliss. The right leg is slightly bent and the foot rests on a figure believed to represent ignorance. The Sivakami statue is 82 cm high and 23 cm wide. She stands in an curved posture known as tribhanga, with one arm raised and the opposite leg bent.

The statues were found in August buried together next to their pedestals. Archaeologists dated them to the 12th century based on their design style and bronze craftsmanship.

Bronze sculptures reached a particularly sophisticated level under the Chola rulers. Images of Hindu deities were not simply decorative objects. Many were created for worship and could be carried in religious processions, allowing divine images to move beyond the inner spaces of temples. Whether the newly discovered statues served such a purpose has not yet been established.

Nagapattinam was an important port city during the Chola period, serving as the empire’s primary entry point and exit point for east-bound travel across the Bay of Bengal. In addition to the commercial traffic, the city welcomed religious pilgrims who came to visit the Chudamani Vihara Buddhist monastery and the Soundarajaperumal Temple to Vishnu that is referenced in the Vaishnava canon, holy books written by the Alvars, Tamil poet-saints.

Both bronzes have been transported to Chennai for chemical conservation. Researchers also plan metallurgical analyses to examine the materials used in their manufacture.

Exceptional Roman child’s sarcophagus found with toys inside

Ancient

The 1,800-year-old sarcophagus of a child still sealed with toys inside has been discovered in the ancient city of Tomis, Romania. It was found on the northern edge of the Roman necropolis, an area that was in use in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., and is the first well-preserved sarcophagus of a child discovered at Tomis.

Tomis, modern-day Constanța, was founded in the 6th century B.C. by Greek colonists from Miletus. Its harbor on the Black Sea and a direct inland route linking the sea to the Danube made it an advantageous location for trade, but it didn’t develop into a major city and center of regional commerce until after it was annexed by Rome in 29 B.C. The poet Ovid was banished there by Augustus in 8 A.D. and lamented what a remote backwater it was, but it prospered rapidly as one of Rome’s most important settlements on the Black Sea. It would become the capital of the province of Scythia Minor in the 3rd century.

The sarcophagus was unearthed last week by archaeologists from the Constanța Museum of National History and Archaeology in a preventative excavation before construction. It was small, suited for a child of around four of five, and intact with lead clamps and mortar sealing the lid in place. The entire unit was raised and removed to the museum so it could be opened and its contents examined.

On Tuesday, October 27th, the lid was raised, revealing the skeletal remains of a young child and exceptionally preserved organic remains including an inner wooden coffin, a burial shroud and floral offerings like leaves folded into small bundles. The coffin is so well-preserved its side panels are complete with their dovetail joints. Laid to rest with the baby were several bronze objects, coins and two clay toys: a horse on wheels and a rattle shaped like a rooster. Both toys have painted features and decoration surviving on the surface. The rooster still contains small objects that rattle when you shake it.

The child was wearing bronze bracelets and two bullae pendants on a necklace. Bullae were usually worn by Roman boys, but the sex won’t be determined until the bones are thoroughly examined. The age is also to be determined, as despite the size of the sarcophagus, the rattle suggests a younger child than a four-year-old. The high quality of the sarcophagus and finery it contained indicate the child was from a family of means.

Celtic grave with unique animal offering found in Bavaria

Ancient

The grave of a Celtic woman buried with an unusual animal offering and rich jewelry has been discovered in Senden, in the German state of Bavaria. The remains of a lamb or kid, which were typically not left in graves as food offerings, raises new questions about the funerary rituals of the Celts of central Europe.

The grave was unearthed in a 2024 excavation at the site of a planned industrial park. The excavation uncovered traces of settlement from the Celtic Iron Age to the Roman Imperial era, but the grave was the most striking find. It contained the skeletal remains of an adult woman wearing valuable jewelry: a matching pair of heavy bronze anklets and a rare arm ring made of sapropelite, a dark, jet-like rock formed from fine organic mud that has hardened and mineralized over millions of years. Iron Age Celts carved and polished it for jewelry, usually bangle bracelets.

The remains have not been absolutely dated yet, but the two anklets are knotted ring bracelets, a type of jewelry produced by the La Tène culture between 380 and 250 B.C.

Dr. Stefanie Berg, who leads the ground monument department at the BLfD, calls the woman’s grave an outstanding single find. She says the grave sits inside a much bigger story. Her team documented traces of settlement across the dig area, running from the Celtic period into the Roman imperial age. Finds like these, she says, show the region served as busy living space for thousands of years. The grave is one point in a long record of people living and working on the same ground.

Prehistoric battle axe blocked from leaving UK

Ancient

A prehistoric battle-axe head discovered in 1974 at Scarthingwell, near Tadcaster in North Yorkshire, has been temporarily blocked from export to give museums and local collectors a chance to buy it and keep it in the UK where it can be on public display. It is more than 4,000 years old, dating to the Bronze Age.

The battle-axe provides valuable insight into the role these objects played in expressing status, identity and changing ways of life in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain. It also has significant research potential, offering future generations an opportunity to learn more about this period of our shared national history.

Discovered by accident during construction work but only reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in 2012, the axe head is made of diorite, a hard igneous rock with a distinctive mottled pattern. It has curved edges, a central hole for the handle and highly polished surface that emphasizes the natural pattern in the stone. It is in exceptional condition.

According to Tim Pestell, member of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), cutting a hard stone like this into a tapered shape with a central hole and then polishing it to a bright shine would have required hundreds of hours of hard work. The emphasis on aesthetics in the production of the piece suggest it was not just a utilitarian device.

In a profound period of change, the Early Bronze Age witnessed a society previously restricted to flint tool technology adopting metalwork. Despite this, battle axes became some of the most powerful symbolic objects, labelled by one scholar as ‘blunt instruments of power’. Made of stone rather than metal, they conveyed important social, sacred and political messages.

The axe head’s outstanding connection the British history, aesthetic significance and importance to the study of artifacts like it meets the first, second and third of the Waverley criteria used by the committee to make its determination. On the recommendation of RCEWA, Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross imposed a temporary export bar on the prehistoric artefact. Potential purchasers have until December 22 to make a good faith effort to raise the funds to acquire the axe head for the recommended price of £15,000 ($16,700).