The Great Dish from the Mildenhall treasure

Roman Britain, 4th century AD
Found in Mildenhall, Suffolk

The most famous object in the Mildenhall treasure is the large, highly decorated circular platter usually known as the 'Great Dish', or as the 'Neptune' or 'Oceanus Dish'.

The fine decoration is worked in low relief and engraved line on the front surface of the silver. The subject matter alludes to the worship and mythology of Bacchus on land and in the sea. The staring face in the centre represents Oceanus, with dolphins in his hair and a beard formed of seaweed fronds. The inner circle, bordered by scallop shells, consists of sea-nymphs riding mythical marine creatures, a sea-horse, a triton, a sea-stag and a ketos, a dragon-like sea-monster. The wide outer frieze features Bacchus himself, holding a bunch of grapes and a thyrsus and resting a foot on his panther. He presides over a celebration of music, dancing and drinking in his honour. The participants include the hero Hercules, overcome by the consumption of wine, the goat-legged god Pan, and various satyrs and maenads (female devotees of Bacchus).

Bacchic imagery had a long history in Greek and Roman art, and this example, on a magnificent silver vessel, is one of the finest to survive from the late-Roman period.

K.S. Painter, The Mildenhall Treasure-1 (London, 1977)