- Museum number
- 1994,0408.46
- Description
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Partially gilded silver ladle, one of a matching set of 10 (1994, 0408.42-51). The ladle or spoon has a round bowl and a broad, flat, decorated handle with and an elaborate attachment plate. The handle terminal has two convex curves with corner and central projections, creating an outline similar to a curly bracket. The bowl has a slight basal omphalos and no marks of turning. Gilding is applied to the upper surface of the handle, the bowl rim, and the omphalos base within the bowl.
The handle has chip-carved relief in the form of a symmetrical pair of S-scrolls at the terminal and a complex arrangement of such scrolls in the attachment, which also features two small dolphins facing away from the ladle bowl. Three lines of beaded or ‘roped’ relief run along the handles, in the centre and at each side, executed with a series of punched grooves along a ridge. Punched dots decorate the rim of the bowl and are also used to demarcate the lower outline of the dolphins, which have engraved lines and eyes.
- Dimensions
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Diameter: 42 millimetres (bowl rim)
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Length: 138 millimetres
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Weight: 43.90 grammes
- Curator's comments
- Silver ladles from the Hoxne hoard
Roman Britain, buried in the 5th century AD
Found at Hoxne, Suffolk (1992)
The Hoxne (pronounced 'Hoxon') hoard is 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.
Small ladles or spoons with deep round bowls and straight handles occur in several late-Roman hoards, such as the Mildenhall treasure. However, the twenty examples from Hoxne, in two sets of ten, form the largest collection. One set has rather roughly engraved decoration on the handles incorporating the monogram cross. The other set has gilded handles and bowls and distinctive chip-carved ornament which foreshadows decorative styles and techniques in Britain in the early medieval period.
- Location
- On display (G49/dc23)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2005-2006 25 Jul-13 Jan, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2005 12 Feb-26 Jun, Newcastle, Hancock Museum, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2004-2005 1 Oct-15 Jan, Manchester Museum, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2004 30 Apr-21 Sep, Cardiff, National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2003-2004 21 Nov-14 Mar, London, BM, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
1994-1995 Oct-Jan, Ipswich Museum, The Hoxne Treasure
- Acquisition date
- 1994
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1994,0408.46
- Additional IDs
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Treasure/PAS number: T304 (Treasure number)