Marble paperweight decorated with a bronze reproduction of a Coptic terracotta bread stamp (6th – 11th century). Stamping bread, a custom going back to Greco-Roman times and still continuing today, was first used for votive offerings in pagan sanctuaries and later for the consecrated bread in the Christian communion service. The tree of life motif is common to the civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. The triangular objects hanging from the branches, the fruits and the fish may be interpreted as occult Christian symbols and often occur on Coptic stamps.
