Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 1358. Estimate CHF250.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF2200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Trikka. First half of the 4th century BC. Trichalkon (Bronze, 21mm, 8.42 g 7). Head of the nymph Trikka to right, wearing a pendant earring and with her hair in a roll. Rev. ΤΡΙΚΚΑΙ - ΩΝ Asklepios, draped to the waist, seated right on backless stool, holding staff over his left shoulder and holding dove by its wings in his right hand, feeding it to a snake coiled to left on the right; below stool, Α. Rogers 552. SNG Copenhagen 267. SNG Munich 192. Rare and clear. Dark, greenish-black patina. Very fine.

A note from BCD: Although a professional source initially assured BCD that snakes do not eat birds, she subsequently changed her mind. It is possible that the scene may have some kind of ritualistic meaning rather than just showing a snake being fed. In any case, for what it is worth, people who have eaten snakes usually remark that they taste like chicken.