Mildenhall Dish

[BDTH]

I may have sold off my silver stack, but I just stumbled upon a reference to this Roman beauty:

Mildenhall Platter

A large concave silver platter with beaded rim (135 beads in total) on a circular vertical foot-ring positioned exactly one-third in from the rim. The entire upper surface is decorated in raised relief executed by chasing with details added with the use of fine incised lines. This is divided into 3 decorative zones in a circular arrangement, alluding to the worship and mythology of Bacchus on land and in the sea. In the central medallion is a facing head of Oceanus, with dolphins in his hair and a beard formed of seaweed fronds, enclosed in a border of 91 circular pellets. The inner frieze, bordered by scallop shells, consists of four scenes of naked nereids riding mythical marine creatures, a triton, a half-stag/half-sea creature, a ketos in association with a triton and a hippocamp. The wide outer frieze features 6 different scenes with the central figures being Bacchus, holding a bunch of grapes and a thyrsus and resting a foot on his panther. The god presides over a celebration of music, dancing and drinking in his honour. The participants include the hero Hercules, overcome by the consumption of wine and having to be supported by two satyrs, the goat-legged god Pan, and various satyrs and maenads dancing or playing musical instruments. In the field there are a variety of objects associated with the thiasos, including a krater, pedum, skin with grapes, drums or tambourines and a mask of Silenus on a pedestal.

[CaptCaveMan]

Mildenhall/Beck Row, not too far from me.

Perhaps I should also start metal detecting 🤔

Edited June 18, 2021 by CaptCaveMan

[BDTH]

I would!

[Coverte]

A beautiful looking piece, the blown up image on the British Museum site shows off the stunning detail.

[Booky586]

Roald Dahl has written a great factual book about the discovery of the Mildenhall Treasure, I'd highly recommend it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mildenhall_Treasure