Weight with Volute Krater

A volute-krater in high relief decorates one side of this Greek bronze weight designed for use with a simple balance scale. The other sides of the small plaque are plain, except for the underside, which was hollowed out either to lighten the weight or for the addition of a lead filling. The commercial weights used by merchants and shopkeepers of this period were usually made from lead, so this bronze example probably had some sort of official status, serving as a standard against which other weights could be checked. Like coins, most Greek weights had a symbol on one side to easily identify their value. The symbol of a volute-krater appears on the reverse of silver stater coins from the city of Thebes in central Greece. Since the coins and the official weights of a city both originated at the same mint and often used the same emblems, this weight probably also comes from Thebes.