This is one of my most treasured props, the infamous Sappho scroll that Xena gives Gabrielle for her birthday in Many Happy Returns. ("There's a moment when I look at you...") We know from our contact in NZ that there were two of these scrolls made and this one screen-matches to the one in the final scene of MHR, from the writing down to the edges of the paper! The scroll has a bird/eagle hard resin emblem which when the scroll is rolled up, sits neatly on the top of it. It is also tied with a ribbon. The writing is hand-inked and the red that you see on the scroll is whatever wax/glue was used to seal the emblem onto it. This prop is quite screen-used and shows signs of wear but was made to look aged and is in wonderful shape! I included the screenshot of Xena's expression when she gives Gabrielle the scroll, just because I think it's freaking adorable!
This scroll was interestingly enough also spotted in the season 5 ep, Motherhood.
Eve, wanting to learn more about her mother via Gabrielle's stories, sits down with Gab's pack of scrolls and begins to read through them when the Furies make Gab stab Eve with her sai. The scroll is the same one Eve is reading when she gets stabbed and then during the battle, it rolls on the floor and gets stepped on. Screenshots to follow. Special thanks to Cheri, the Prop-A-Dile Hunter, for her eagle-eye...and finding this in Motherhood!
