Facebook
sprite-icon-instagram
Twitter
sprite-icon-wechat
Weibo
X
sprite-icon-youtube
sprite-icon-accessible
Group 3
sprite-icon-arrow
sprite-icon-audio-description
sprite-icon-calendar
sprite-icon-camera
UI/Chevron/Large/Black
sprite-icon-chevron
Artboard 1
sprite-icon-copyright
sprite-icon-data
sprite-icon-download
sprite-icon-grid
sprite-icon-image
i
sprite-icon-list
sprite-icon-magazine
sprite-icon-maximise
sprite-icon-museum
sprite-icon-osd-minus
sprite-icon-osd-plus
Group 6
sprite-icon-pin
sprite-icon-plus
sprite-icon-print
Fill 1
sprite-icon-share
sprite-icon-shop
sprite-icon-tag
sprite-icon-tea
sprite-icon-ten-percent-tag
Artboard 1
sprite-icon-wallet
sprite-icon-zoom
Skip to main content
Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.
Menu
Main navigation
Visit
Toggle Visit submenu
Back
to previous menu
—
Visit
—
Visit
—
Family visits
—
Group visits
—
Audio app
—
Out-of-hours tours
—
Tours and talks
—
Object trails
—
Accessibility
—
Food and drink
—
Late opening on Fridays
—
Museum map
Exhibitions and events
Collection
Toggle Collection submenu
Back
to previous menu
—
Collection
—
Collection
—
Collection online
—
Galleries
—
Blog
—
The British Museum podcast
Learn
Toggle Learn submenu
Back
to previous menu
—
Learn
—
Learn
—
Schools
—
Communities
—
Adult learning
—
Young people
Membership
Toggle Membership submenu
Back
to previous menu
—
Membership
—
Membership
—
Members' events
—
Young Friends
—
Existing Members
—
Visiting as a Member
Support us
Toggle Support us submenu
Back
to previous menu
—
Support us
—
Donate
—
Corporate support
—
Become a Patron
—
Supporter case studies
—
Become a Volunteer
—
Existing Patrons
—
Leave a legacy
—
American Friends of the British Museum
Secondary navigation
Shop
Search
Donate
Hide menu
spoon
Object Type
spoon
Museum number
1946,1007.26
Description
Silver handle of spoon in form of dolphin, or two dolphins overlapping. The attachment for the spoon is crescentic and narrows at each end, both of which are in the form of a stylised bird's head. The handle itself is in the form of a dolphin with a tripartite fin on top; the head has heavily indented eye sockets. The lower half of the dolphin runs into another 'head' with a deep eye socket on each side, topped with a single fin, perhaps intended to represent a second dolphin. The handle ends in a tripartite moulding to represent the tail. Belongs with bowl 1946,1007.21.
Cultures/periods
Romano-British
Production date
4thC
Findspot
Found/Acquired:
West Row
Materials
silver
gold
Dimensions
Length:
71.80 millimetres
(broken)
Weight:
33.42 grammes
Width:
45.90 millimetres
(handle attachment)
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments
Silver ladles from the Mildenhall treasure Roman Britain, 4th century AD Found in Mildenhall, Suffolk Deep, round-bowled spoons or ladles like this have been found in many late-Roman silver hoards. The decorative dolphin handles of these examples are gilded and originally had inlays, probably of glass, in their eyes. They resemble some of the dolphins depicted in the Hoxne treasure. The solder which originally attached the handles to the bowls has decayed during the time spent buried in the ground; it is now difficult to tell which handle belongs to which bowl.
Bibliographic references
Painter 1977a / The Mildenhall Treasure: Roman Silver from East Anglia
Hobbs 2008 / The secret history of the Mildenhall treasure
Roman Britain 1964 / Guide to the Antiquities of Roman Britain
(p. 40)
Hobbs & Jackson 2010 / Roman Britain Life at the Edge of Empire
(p. 150, fig. 121)
Hobbs 2016 / The Mildenhall Treasure: Late Roman Silver Plate from East Anglia
(p.1, pl.1, p.4, p.5, pl.8, p.7, p.10, p.11, pl.15, pl.17, p.12, pl.18, p.15, p.16, p.17, table.2, p.209-219, p.212, p.214, pl.365, p.215, table.15, p.218, pl.372, p.219, pl.377, p.220, p.237, p.238, pl.401, p.241, p.243, p.244, p.266, table.28, p.267, pl.407, p.271, p.279, table.31, p.297, p.298)
(cat.19. See also 1946,1007.21)
Location
On display
(G49/dc22)
Condition
One broken.
Subjects
mammal
Acquisition name
Treasure Trove:
HM Treasury
From:
Sydney Ford
From:
Gordon Butcher
Acquisition date
1946
Acquisition notes
Found while ploughing, 1942
Department
Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Registration number
1946,1007.26
Conservation
Treatment
: 19 Feb 2016
Treatment
: 30 Jun 1997
Treatment
: 14 Nov 1995
Treatment
: 07 Sep 1993
Treatment
: 20 Jan 1992
Treatment
: 04 Feb 1980
Treatment
: 13 Nov 2003