Hoxne hoard pepper pot
From Hoxne, Suffolk, Roman Britain, buried in
the 5th century AD
This piperatorium is from
the Hoxne (pronounced 'Hoxon') hoard, the richest find of
treasure from Roman Britain.
Alongside the approximately 15,000 coins were many other
precious objects, buried for safety at a time when Britain was
passing out of Roman control. This pepper-pot was one of four in
the hoard.
Pepper was first imported into the Roman world from India in the
first century AD, but piperatoria, the special containers
for this expensive spice, are very rare finds. This example takes
the form of a hollow silver bust of an Imperial lady of the
late-Roman period.
Bronze steelyard-weights of similar appearance are well known in
the late-Antique period and though many attempts have been made to
see in them a portrait of a specific empress, it is more likely
that they simply represent a generic imperial image.
Details of the Empress's jewellery and rich clothing are gilded,
and she holds a scroll in her left hand. The pot has a disc in the
base which could be turned to three positions, one closed, one with
large openings to enable the pot to be filled with ground pepper,
and a third which revealed groups of small holes for
sprinkling.
The Hoxne hoard
As well as gold and silver coins, the hoard contained gold
jewellery and numerous small items of silver tableware, including
ladles and spoons, as well as the remains of a large wooden
chest and smaller caskets with tiny silver padlocks.
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