10th-12th century AD. A bronze reliquary cross enkolpion with incised image of Mary Theotokos facing nimbate in orans pose on one side, nimbate Jesus on the cross dressed in long robe (colobium) on the other side; looped ring on the upper part to be used as pendant. Cf. Wamser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Östliches Erbe, München, 2004, item 257, 260, for type.53 grams, 79mm (3"). Property of an Austrian private collector since the 1970s. The type is a provincial variant (probably from Balkans) of a prototype developed in Constantinople in 11th-12th century AD. In some specimens the Mother of God is surrounded by the busts of the Evangelists, here missing. Usually she is represented alone with palm fronds, her initials inscribed on them, while on the other side Jesus Christ is alone on the cross dressed with a long colobium, a type of iconography visible in the empire since the 8th century AD.