Theodoros Komnenos, kouropalates and doux of Paphlagonia, late 11th century. Seal (Lead, 29 mm, 17.65 g, 12 h). O / A/ΓI/O, - Δ[I]/M[H]/T[PIO,] Saint George standing facing, nimbate, holding spear in his right hand and resting his left on shield.
Rev. +KЄ R,Θ, / Ⲱ CⲰ Δ૪ΛⲰ / ЄOΔⲰPⲰ K૪/OΠAΛAT, S Δ૪/I ΠAΦΛAΓON / Ⲱ KOMNH/NⲰ in seven lines. DO Seals IV 11.4. Jordanov, Corpus II 340. Good very fine.
From a European collection, formed before 2005.
A seal in Dumbarton Oaks attests the promotion of Theodoros Komnenos to the rank of nobelissimos (no. 11.5). As the editors note, he does not appear in other sources, but he may have been the well-known aristocrat, Theodoros Dokeianos, who was a Komnenos on his mother's side. He appears in the letters of Psellos, in the Alexiad of Anna Komnene, and, importantly, Bryennios mentions that he owned a house in Paphlagonia (Bryennios 195.8). A remarkable feature of this seal, and its parallel in Dumbarton Oaks, is that the die engraver omitted the first letter of each line.
