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HISTORY
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The Mildenhall Treasure
Discovered by Sydney Ford in 1942 after a farmer working on his fields struck the objects with a plough, the ornate silverware is today considered a testament to the "Golden Age" of Roman Britannica.
By Will Street
Jul. 25, 2019, 11:30 AM
Introduction
Britain had been invaded by the Romans initially by Julius Caesar in the 1st Century BC. Although the first of the Romans' conquests would be short-lived, by the reign of Emperor Claudius, Britain became permanently under Roman control. Encompassing the majority of England, the whole of Wales and for some time parts of Scotland, the Roman jurisdiction over what they called Britannica lasted from 43 to 410 AD. Although historically considered a less well-off and impoverished realm of the Roman Empire, the discovery of an elaborate collection of ornate silverware in Mildenhall, Suffolk, in 1942 and later discoveries of gold and silverware in East Anglia and elsewhere in England has led to a source-and-discovery-led belief that Roman Britannica went through a so-to-speak “Golden Age” during the 4th Century AD.
It was a time when paganism still held dominance, but the newfound movement of Christianity was spreading across the Empire. During the 4th Century AD, many Roman citizens, both of European or Celtic ethnicity, could reach high points in their careers, gain riches and possess the such elaborate and expensive silverware found. The Mildenhall Treasure gives us an insight into the convalescence of Christian and pagan beliefs, extolling of the Roman Empire’s might and the day-to-day life and entertainment of rich, or at least reasonably well off, Roman citizens in the province of Britannica. In the analysis below, I look at the Mildenhall Treasure in more detail.
The Discovery of the Mildenhall Treasure
The Mildenhall Treasure was discovered in January 1942, in a field on Thistley Green in the village of West Row near Mildenhall in Suffolk. The discovery was made when a farmer who worked on Sydney Ford’s farm, Gordon Butcher, lowered the plough attached to his tractor in order to prepare the ground for a different crop. The plough struck something solid and Gordon Butcher promptly stopped the tractor to see what he’d hit. He began digging through the ground, expecting to find a tree trunk or something similar. However, to his surprise, instead he found a circular piece of blackened metal.
Believing that he had stumbled upon something unusual, he then summoned his boss, Sydney Ford, to come and help investigate. According to their recounting of the events, Butcher and Ford spent the remaining afternoon lifting metal silverware out from the ground as the light faded and a snowstorm blew viciously around them.
At that point, according to Roald Dahl, who conducted an interview with Gordon Butcher in 1946, and published a fictional story entitled “The Mildenhall Treasure” that recounted the events, Sydney Ford was reported to have said he was fond of antiquities and asked Butcher if he could take the items home with him, to which he replied that was fine by him. In any case, what transpired must surely confirm that such an agreement had taken place.
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Sydney Ford then took the silverware back to his residence and spent the next months and years attempting to restore the items back to their former glory. The precise details of how he cleaned the silverware has never been revealed, however it can be imagined he used some form of abrasive tool, like wire wool, and silver polish. Later examination has revealed, regretfully, that he may have used heat to remove the hardest corrosion. Ford then used the items as decoration within his house, placing them on the sideboard in his living room. His son, Jack Ford, photographed in 1944, is shown sitting in an arm chair smoking a pipe while the Great Dish, the two Bacchic plates and the pair of small flat-rimmed bowls, accompanied by what seems to be silver spoon handles sticking out of them, are all positioned atop the sideboard behind him. Ford’s grandson, Sydney Ford Junior, recounted to the BBC many years later that the silverware was not only there as decadent decoration, but served a functional purpose on special occasions, the Great Dish, he even claimed, was used as a fruit bowl at Christmas and his grandfather used the spoons everyday while eating his breakfast and dinner.
Whatever plebeian adventures the silverware had gone through during their time at the residence of Sydney Ford, they were eventually discovered by a doctor and passionate antiquarian called Dr Hugh Fawcett. He had visited the residence of Ford and asked if he had any stone tools from antiquity that he was willing to sell. Ford replied no, but said he did have what he thought was old Roman pewter. Fawcett observed the silverware on the sideboard and Ford revealed the remainder of the astonishing collection in the cupboard below.
In total there were thirty-four separate pieces of silver. As knowledgeable antiquarian, Fawcett realised that these were not just Roman pewter but an important discovery that must be declare as Treasure Trove (the common law, which allowed the Crown to seize any archaeological discoveries if a legal owner could not be found. It was replaced in 1996 by the Treasure Act). Fawcett met a curator at the British Museum and one of the most eminent archaeologists at the time, Christopher Hawkes, in May 1946, who urged him to retrieve the items so they could be examined closely. Ford nonetheless reluctant to let go of the objects, at least lent Fawcett an inscribed silver spoon and one of the dolphin-handled spoons and thus the British Museum got a preliminary examination of two of the objects in May 1946.
As the events turned out, three weeks later, on 21 June 1946, a guilt-stricken Sydney Ford at last handed all the remaining objects into the police station in Mildenhall, Suffolk. The police officer, Sergeant Cole, promptly seized the whole lot and so began the search to find a legal owner if one could be found.
On 1 July 1946, an inquest was held to determine the status of the discovery and whether there should be any reward for the finders. A necessary premise for categorizing a discovery as Treasure Trove was whether it was clear there was always an intention to recover the buried objects and they had not been given away freely. In this case, there was no evidence to suggest the original not possessors had not intended retrieve the items, so the question was passed over quickly. Rather, the aims of the inquest focused on dating the objects and whether the finders should receive a reward.
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After a jury of twelve local men, supported by expert opinion from curators from the British Museum and local archaeologists, had sat and considered the issue in the local police station in Mildenhall, it was deemed that the objects were silver, most probably from the late Roman period, and were indeed Treasure Trove.
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The collection was therefore transported to the British Museum under armed guard. Once there, they proved an overnight success with thousands flocking to view them inside the museum. Congratulated for their energetic discovery, albeit a belated disclosure, Butcher and Ford each received £1,000 – a considerable sum of money at the time.
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There were, however, conspiracy theories at the time surrounding the circumstances of the discovery. Ford was vague when locating the area he had found the items, at one point indicating a patch of land that belonged to a neighbouring farmer before the inquest that was different to the area he had referred the police to. Even after the inquest, he led archaeologists to a completely different area in the field, where they found an old Georgian teapot. This the led the archaeologists leading the excavations of the area at the time, Tom Lethbridge and Gordon Fowler, to doubt whether the treasure had been found at Mildenhall at all.
A resulting theory emerged, that was cited in the autobiography of Charles Phillips, who was famous for the excavations of the main burial site at Sutton Hoo, that the items had been found in North Africa during the Second World War. This theory suggested that the items had been flown over from North Africa to the airfield at Mildenhall that was an RAF base at the time, before they had been hidden and later found by Ford before the carriers could transport them. However, this disbelief may have stemmed from the fact that Roman Britain was thought of as a dull and impoverished region of the Roman Empire, and only the Corbridge Lanx, an elaborate silver platter (discovered in 1735) had been found in the UK before. However, it is now suspected that Ford was simply hazy on the location or eager to be obtuse at the time, for subsequent finds of gold and silver treasures in Water Newton in Cambridgeshire, Thetford in Norfolk and especially Hoxne in Suffolk, where the largest hoard of gold and silver ever found in Britain was discovered, have indicated that East Anglia was an particularly rich area in Roman precious metals compared to the rest of the Empire and Ford’s find was therefore extremely veritable. After all, four years had passed, all his actions seemed genuine and no one else came forward, so altogether there is little reason to doubt the legitimacy of the find.
The Great Dish
The most elaborate of the objects found, the Great Dish is made out of very pure silver and is over 60 cm in diameter and 8 kg in weight, roughly 25 Roman pounds. Dating to the 4th Century AD, it is the decoration across its upper surface that deems it a masterpiece of Roman craftsmanship. Within the continuous ring of beads that line the object’s outer rim, there is a collection of images that extol the Roman Empire’s might and the bacchanalian revelry of its citizens. Below is a detailed account of the Great Dish’s pictorial themes.
Oceanus at the Centre: At the centre of the Great Dish is the head of Oceanus, who was the god that had dominion over the oceans and seas. It is clear that it is the god Oceanus as he has a beard of seaweed and long flowing hair out of which four dolphins emerge. Being the most intelligent of all sea creatures, it is apparent that Oceanus is being demarcated as the father of all sea creatures.
Outer Centre Band of Nereids and Sea Creatures: On the surrounding band outside a rim of beads are representations of the seas over which Oceanus dwells. Here, there four separate but similar scenes of Nereids, the beautiful sea nymphs who roamed the seas. Each has wavy hair, tied in a bun, and are naked except for a necklace, arm bangles and a long sash, which three out of the four hold in their hands. Each Nereid either sits astride or hangs onto a mythical sea creature. There are two pairs. On the right side, one Nereid hangs onto a hippocamp, which was a mythical sea-monster with a long curling three-pronged tail and the head of a horse. On the left side, another Nereid hangs onto to a creature with a fish-like bottom and the upper body of a man who has a wing at the front, while the Nereid steadies herself by leaning on an object that resembles a casket or musical instrument. On the right side again, a Nereid sits astride a sea-monster known as a ketos, which is similarly half-fish and half-man, accompanied by a crab’s claw also extending out at the front. On the top left, a final Nereid sits astride a creature with a fish-like bottom and the head of a stag.
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The reason these depictions of sea-monsters and Nereids are there is because long before the time of today’s marine biology, the sea was a wild and mysterious place to the Romans. Rather than science, mythology stepped in to explain the oceans and seas, much like a bewildered man’s guess at its nature and origins. Within this mythology, there were a range of established sea-gods. The prominent Nereids, who appear on the Great Dish, were nymphs who acted as patrons of sailors and fishermen, and custodians of the sea’s riches. Similarly, the wild and ferocious creatures like the ketos might have originated among fishermen’s sightings of marine animals like whales or giant squids, which became imagined with great awesomeness as stories passed from one another.
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Why Oceanus, the Nereids and sea creatures? Well, in the 4th Century AD, the Roman Empire encompassed all of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Control of the Mediterranean Sea was crucial for the Roman Empire’s economic success. It could, therefore, be an extolling of this sea-faring domination that is being depicted at the centre of the Great Dish. Another possible reason could be travel over the seas and the necessary journey over the English Channel to reach Britannica. Alternatively, by placing representations of the sea at the centre and the land on the outer band, it could be a reference to the Roman Empire itself that encompassed the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. However, a notable introduction to the Celts by the Romans was the introduction of wine, plus the choice to depict the seas on an expensive and luxurious silver dish, points most conclusively towards the benefits that the Roman Empire brought, that was achieved by it’s control over the Mediterranean Sea in order to ensure its economic success.
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Outer Band of Bacchic Scenes: In contrast to the marine life depicted in the centre two bands, the outer band focuses on land-based scenes. Here, the pictorial themes begin directly above the head of Oceanus and transgress in an anticlockwise motion.
At 12 o’clock, there is the principal depiction of Bacchus, accompanied by his common attributes. His muscular, naked body and well-kempt hair that appears dignified and worldly, with a feeling of youth and a hint of effeminacy, is accompanied by a bunch of grapes in his right hand and a staff tipped with a pinecone, called a thyrsus, in his left hand. Below, his left food rests on a panther – his ever-present companion that he was said to have gained after his conquest of India. Behind his right standing leg there is also an urn. To his right, Silenus, who was an elderly Satyr that was one of his male attendants and wise teacher, bows before him with a bowl in his hand to request more refreshment. To Bacchus’ left, a heavily draped Maenad, who were his female devotees, dances freely.
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At 10 o’clock there is a depiction of Bacchic frenzy. A naked Satyr brandishes a pedum (a herdsman’s hooked staff) wildly above his head as he runs full pelt over an abandoned syrinx (a set of pan-pipes) towards a Maenad, who clashes a pair of cymbals together and skips past him in a seemingly unperturbed manner, which altogether appears like a cross-gender game of cat and mouse engendered by the drunken revelry.
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Moving down to 8 o’clock, there is a depiction of Hercules, another legendary figure from Classical mythology. In contrast to the youthful and effeminate figure of Bacchus, he appears older, more bulky and muscular sporting a beard and appearing with a bull-neck as his head points downwards. Similar to Bacchus, he is depicted with his common attributes. In his case, the skin of the Nemean lion, which he had killed as one of his famous Twelve Labours, lies wrapped around his club beneath him as if discarded on the ground. Whereas Bacchus stands in a dignified pose, Hercules is clearly highly drunk and relies on two Satyrs to hold him up and stop him falling on the ground. In the myth of Hercules, there is a famous story in which Hercules takes on Bacchus in a drinking contest, but comes out far worse for wear, which is probably what the creators of the Great Dish had been referring to. By choosing Hercules, it is apparent that even the great hero, and the epitome of masculinity, is unable to handle his drink.
At 7 o’clock, there is a Maenad and a Satyr. The Maenad wears a long flowing dress and places on the end of the dress into an urn with her right hand. In her left hand, she holds an object close to her bosom. It is not clear what the object is, but it could be a musical instrument, like a drum, or perhaps a shield. By placing her dress into the urn, it appears as if she has freely lost her inhibitions because of the drunken revelry. The Satyr beside her has a nebris (goatskin) around his arm and dances towards her, yet a dropped pedum (staff) lies on the floor and he has turned his head to look backwards as if distracted by the events behind him. There, another Satyr plays the double flute directly in the face of another Maenad, who recoils in ecstatic delight and has dropped two cymbals onto the floor, which the previous Satyr appears to be looking towards, suggesting it was the cause of his distraction. At the feet of the double flute player, Bacchus’ playful panther has joined them and partakes in the amusements.
Finally at 3 o’clock, there is a depiction of the god Pan, who was half-goat, half-man and the god of flocks and shepherds, the mountain wilderness and rustic music. Here, he holds his famous pan-pipes in his left hand and skips away from a Maenad as he raises his right hand upwards to refrain her while she shakes a tambourine. Her dress is split open, provocatively revealing her legs. Perhaps the creators of the Great Dish are suggesting that it has all got too much and some restraint should be put in place. Beneath the Maenad is a mask of Silenus on a pedestal, the wise tutor of Bacchus, suggesting she has had too much to drink. In between the two characters is an abandoned staff and beneath Pan’s feet there are some grapes tied up in a goatskin, perhaps providing a slight hint that they should think of the future and not over-drink so much that they jeopardise future revelry.
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Why the depiction of Bacchanalian revelry on the outer bands of the Great Dish? To answer that question, we have to think of the enormous popularity of the cult of Bacchus across the Roman Empire, including Britain. Archaeological evidence has illustrated the prevalence of the cult of Bacchus and its great popularity can be imagined by the requirement to ban the cult by the Roman Senate in 186 BC because of excess worship, yet its re-continuation most probably by Julius Caesar in the 1st Century BC. Although this dish may or may not have been owned by European or Celtic people, wine had initially been introduced to the Celts during the 1st Centuries BC and AD and proved enormously popular with its inhabitants. For example, in the early stages of the Roman Empire, Romans and Gauls would trade freely over commodities such as wine.
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Envisaged on the outer panels of the Great Dish, therefore, is a Bacchanalian revel that was a central part of the cult of Bacchus. In many ways, the scene depicted on the outer panels of the Great Dish represent the narratives surrounding the cult of Bacchus. Bacchus is accompanied by his Maenads and Satyrs who dance freely and seem to have lost their inhibitions. The mask of Silenus also refers to the theatrical side of the cult of Bacchus, such as was expressed in The Bacchae by the ancient Greek playright Euripides where he claimed “pleasure from wine banishes grief.” Such as is illustrated on the Great Dish, the transformative power of wine was considered to make its users not like themselves, but akin to actors. Although generally, therefore, the outer bands of the Great Dish may be a depiction of Bacchanalian cultic activity, the prevalence of its rites and popularity of wine may infer also a general extolling of the enjoyment that was brought by wine and the fun that was brought by inebriation.
The Remaining Dining Set
Bacchic Platters: These are a pair of two small, slightly concave plates that are about the size of a modern-day dessert plate. From the close similarity in design to the Great Dish, it is evident that they were created in the same workshop and are part of the same set as the Great Dish.
Both pairs depict an ostentatiously dressed Maenad, who interacts with a character on the other side and both Maenads are so similar that it is likely they were intended to be the same character. On one pair, the Maenad is holding a staff in her right hand and dancing with a tambourine in her other hand, as a Satyr on the left side throws his pan pipes on the ground and appears as if he has been slighted by her, however the Maenad seems unperturbed and is in the act of dancing and shaking the tambourine. In between them on the ground is a pair of cymbals and some grapes wrapped in a goat-skin.
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On the other small plate, there is a depiction of the god Pan, who plays the pan-pipes and turns towards a Maenad, who is playing the double flute. Above them is a bare-breasted water-nymph, leaning on a jug out of which liquid flows and below is a deer examining a snake. The appearance of the water-nymph draws back to the Great Dish and conveys a subtle reminder of the of the importance of the Romans’ control over the Mediterranean Sea, just as Pan, who also appears on the small plate acted as a reminder of restraint on the Great Dish. Generally, both small plates express the sexual licentiousness of inebriated women and while one promotes rejection, the other with Pan promotes caution.
Matching Set of Four Deep Bowls: The Bacchic theme continues on a set of four deep bowls. These are decorated on their rims and at the centre of their base, while the outer base remains blank and a ring of beads lines the upper rim. Away from the depictions of human Satyrs and Maenads as is shown on the Great Dish and Bacchic Platters, these objects depict real and mythical animals in different stages of life and death. There is a break in the depictions brought by four heads of males and females dotted around each bowl, which are most probably representations of masks used in theatre. In between, some of the scenes depicting animals are peaceful and pastoral, such as grazing sheep and a pair of affectionate horses nuzzling their necks against each other, however this is constantly counter-balanced by the threat and danger of predators, such as a leopardess chasing a pair of antelope in one scene and another pair of leopardess bringing down a bull in another.
At the centre of the bowls are depictions of and relevant to Alexander the Great. His helmeted head is illustrated in the centre of one of the bowls, while his mother, Olympias, in another. Alexander the Great was a legendary figure, famous for his conquests of Persia in the 4th Century BC. It is most probable that the creators of these objects have chosen to refer to Alexander the Great and Persia for its exotic qualities and the pertinence that has for wildlife. The culture of Persia was famous for its reference to exotic animals, and the Ancient Greeks notably took inspiration from Persian art in the 7th Century BC, creating vases such as a lion-headed aryballos by the “Chigi” painter. It would also have been rich in exotic wildlife.
By focusing on wildlife, and using Persia to encapsulate this fervour of wildlife, therefore, the creators of these objects are choosing to focus on the fertility importance to the Dionysian Mysteries. Bacchus was associated with the fecundity of the Earth and sea, but we can transfer that further in this case to the cycle of death and rebirth of all nature in general.
Pair of Small Flat Plates: These are a pair of small flat plates with a convex, bowl-shaped base connected by a stem. The stem is elaborate, and it was originally thought that the objects were goblets because of the convex base. However, the flat upper surface is too elaborate and decadent to be the base and their appearance makes it patently clear that they were intended as flat plates. In the 4th Century AD, glass was, in fact, the substance used for drinking vessels.
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The Covered Bowl: This is a bowl accompanied by a lid that rests on top and has a handle formed out of a miniature figurine of Triton. In the date of its manufacture and its pictorial theme, it is the exception to the rest of the Mildenhall Treasure. The cover of the bowl is decorated so differently from the rest of the collection that it is likely it was made at a different time and in a different workshop. Further still, the cover of the bowl does not fit perfectly so it is likely that the two pieces were fabricated at different times. The bowl was probably made in the 3rd Century AD and the cover potentially half a century later. The cover is the decorated section, which illustrates a hunting scene depicting a centaur fighting against a lion. The object is similarly connected to Bacchus, for centaurs were associated with the god Bacchus and there are also masks which frame the scenes including the heads of Silenus, Pan and probably the Maenads. The handle of the cover is a figurine of the god Triton, son of Poseidon, blowing his conch shell.
As the covered bowl is dated potentially as much as century before the rest of the collection, it is hard to establish a particular intention in connection with the rest of the collection. However, in Greek mythology, the twelve rustic daimones, or spirits, that were said to have been sent by Zeus to watch over Dionysus, were transformed into ox-like centaurs by Hera, yet sill accompanied Dionysus in his campaign against the Indians. The vignettes, could, therefore, be there to illustrate the centaurs accompanying Bacchus in his campaigns in India, fighting, as they are shown on the cover, against lions, who were a naturally India-based animal. Albeit added later, the figurine of Triton, as ruler of the depths of the sea, could be there to illustrate the extreme lengths of Bacchus’ campaigns in India.
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The Niello Dish: This is another large platter and about the same size as the Great Dish. However, rather than being raised into relief as the Great Dish is, the Niello Dish’s flat upper surface is almost completely plain. The only decorated areas of the object are the central medallion and the narrow outer frieze on the uppermost band. The geometric decoration is incised into the surface and the grooves are filled with a black silver-sulphide paste known as niello, which is designed to produce a contrast with the silvery background.
Large Fluted Dish: With swan-head drop handles, this is a large, deep dish that has flutes decorated with incised leaf-like tendrils, which alternate with plain flutes. Incised at the base is a six-pointed star formed by two interlocking triangles. Although this appears like the Jewish Star of David, the image was not, in fact, used as a Jewish symbol until the 17th Century. Rather, the symbol possessed a magical significance during various times in antiquity, including the 4th Century AD, and is, therefore, most probably there in connection with theories concerning magic in the Dionysian mysteries. Magic and mystery cults were closely entwined within the Roman Empire, and we can presume the symbol is there in relation to magical rites.
Utensils: The count of utensils amounts to two pairs of different types of spoon. Firstly, there are five dolphin-handled spoons that are all similar and we can presume were part of the same matching set. They are designed with deep circular bowls and gilded silver handles in the form of dolphins. These dolphins may have had their eyes inlaid with coloured glass or even precious stones when they were in their original condition.
There are also eight spoons with long, pointed handles and pear-shaped bowls. Two are inscribed, whereas the remainder are not. Three out of five of the non-inscribed pear-shaped spoons are decorated with leaf-like motifs across the bowls, which echo the decoration on the fluted bowl. As for the inscribed spoons, they form a pair and provide us with names. One reads “PAPPITEDO VIVAS” and the other “PASCENTIA VIVAS”. Pappitedo is a man’s name while Pascentia is a female’s name, and “vivas” translates as “may you live” so altogether the inscriptions mean “may you have a long life Pascentia” and “may you have a long life Pappitedo.”
Explaining the inscriptions, the word “vivas” could be being used in a Christian sense to mean “may you have a long life in Christ.” There are some explicitly Christian objects found with the treasure, which the two inscribed spoons could have been made in tandem with. These are three Christian spoons that possess pear-shaped bowls, which each have a Chi-Rho symbol inscribed within them, surrounded on either side by an Alpha and Omega symbol respectively. The Chi-Rho symbol was used by Christians in the 4th Century AD to denote Christ himself, as it was a monogram composed of the first two letters of his Greek name. The Alpha and Omega refer to the passage in the Book of Revelation where Christ is described as “the beginning” and “the end”.
The spoons and, perhaps, the whole treasure, therefore, could have been a gift to Pascentia and Pappitedo after they were baptised. Although the references to Bacchus and his mythological themes and Christian symbolism might appear contradictory, it was, in fact, common on metalwork, mosaics and other forms of art during the period. The spoons and, for that matter, almost all of the treasure would have almost certainly have been made after the Emperor Constantine officially ended the persecution of Christians in 312 AD. It was a time when the Constantine himself and others were actively promoting Christianity as the dominant religion within the Roman Empire so a convalescence of paganism and Christianity was bound to happen.
How was the Midenhall Treasure Made?
Firstly, it is not known where and when the silver used to make the Mildenhall Treasure originated. Known places where silver was mined in the Roman Empire include notably the Sierra Morena mountains in Spain, and it was also created as a by-product of lead extraction, which was carried out in the Mendip Hills in south-west England for example. However, silver was often recycled and reused so even if a test existed, which it doesn’t, it would be impossible to establish where and when the silver originated.
Close examination of the vessels can, however, reveal how they were made. As an example, on the back of the Great Dish, hammer marks can still be observed. The object would have first been cast into the basic shame and then hammered into the required diameter. This is what would have resulted in the hammer marks remaining on the back. The process is technically called “raising.” The cast foot-ring and the rim would have also been thickened by hammering side on. The outer beads of the rim would have been created by hammering in a specially shaped tool, and we know that the tool was the same as the beads have identical flaws across the whole dish.
For the decoration, a metalwork technique was used known as “chasing.” While the Great Dish was supported on an anvil, tools would have been used to carry out a series of punches and chisels on the object to create a false relief. The plain areas would have then been polished using a lathe to hold the object centrally so it could be rotated and polished. The raised relief sections themselves would have then been polished to ensure it was smooth and shiny. Finally, smaller tools would have been used to punch holes in the surface and create small incisions, such as can be seen with Bacchus’ leopard’s spots.
The creation of the object would’ve been carried out by a highly skilled and experienced silversmith, or even by a team of silversmiths. Nonetheless, after its burial and Ford’s renovations, we cannot how precisely it would have appeared in its original self, except that the craftsmanship displayed must have been carried out by a very capable workforce.
Who Owned the Mildenhall Treasure?
The Mildenhall Treasure is the only silver dining service ever found in Britain. Only the Corbridge Lanx, that is a platter for a dining occasion, has been found to compete with it. This tells us that the Mildenhall Treasure must have been a very rare item in Roman Britain.
On the other hand, collections of silverware have been found in continental Europe, with which we can compare the Mildenhall Treasure. In Kaiseraugst, Switzerland, a very large hoard of silver vessels was discovered in the early 1960s (discoveries found even more objects there in 1995), which totalled over eighty-five items. Trier, in Germany, was the place of the discovery of an even larger hoard in 1628, which was comprised of about fifty pieces weighing an enormous 114 kg. However, the silverware, that was discovered in a Jesuit Monastery, unfortunately came to be melted down and the silver reused.
Weighing 26 kg, the Mildenhall Treasure is not the most valuable of anything found in the boundaries of the Roman Empire, yet still would have had a significant value. Equating the weight of the collection to its equivalent to the gold coin used in the 4th Century AD, the solidi, the Mildenhall Treasure was equivalent to 320 solidi.
Literary sources have given us an insight into the value of 320 solidi in Roman Empire in the 4th Century AD. For instance, a junior clerk would earn around 9 solidi a year, meaning they would need to work for thirty-five years to afford the collection, whereas a Roman senator could earn 288,000 solidi a year, meaning they would have to work for less than half a day to be able to afford the collection.
The owners of the Mildenhall Treasure were therefore reasonably wealthy, a member of the upper or middle classes and perhaps from the nobility.
The only substantial clue to its ownership are the two inscribed names on the spoons that most probably refer to the baptism of two children. Using that knowledge, the most plausible answer is that they were given as a gift to a family who had just baptised two of their children, who we can presume were twins or siblings.
It is most probable that the collection was manufactured somewhere in continental Europe. During the 4th Century AD, control of the mining and circulation of gold, silver and other precious gemstones was strictly controlled by the emperor and his court. The emperor’s court was no longer based solely in Rome but moved across the empire. There were imperial capitals in Trier in Germany, Aquileia, Ravenna and Milan in northern Italy, and Arles and Lyons in France. Each of these places had coin forges and would have had skilled metalworkers attached also to the court, who created things such as silverware and jewellery.
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It is unknown how many collections and pieces of jewellery these imperial courts produced. They were, however, used commonly as gifts as a way to pay salaries or maintain good relations within the provinces. As gifts from dignitaries to dignitaries, the Mildenhall Treasure was, therefore, most probably a gift from a person of high status at the imperial court to a member of the nobility in the province of Britannica, intended, as a close examination of the objects suggests, as a present honouring the baptism of two family members.
How was the Mildenhall Treasure Used?
Although we cannot know for certain and it may have varied over its lifespan, late Roman pictorial art gives us an insight into whether or not the Mildenhall Treasure would have been used at dining occasions and what it was used for.
In a 4th Century Roman floor mosaic, found in the “House of the Buffet Supper” in Antioch, Turkey, there is a depiction of boiled eggs in egg-cups, artichockes, pig’s trotters accompanied by a red dipping sauce, which are all placed on top of oval or circular platters. Positioned across the platters, the food appears as an arrangement of courses being laid out on the silver dishes ready to be served to the diners. Judging from the mosaicist’s use of grey and black tesserae to represent the vessels, it is highly likely that the artist intended to represent silver plate. Similarly, on a mosaic dating to the 4th Century AD, that was found on the floor in a villa at Piazza Armerina, in Sicily, a group of hunters appear to be sat around what seems to be a silver platter with a spit-roasted chicken on top.
Judging from Roman mosaic art from the 4th Century AD therefore, the Mildenhall Treasure was most probably used to carry and serve food during dining services. The Great Dish and Niello Dish might have been used to serve large amounts of food to a number of diners, the covered bowl might have served the purpose of holding soups, the fluted bowl to house water for hand-washing, and the remaining dishes might have been used to serve smaller items such as fruit and nuts.
Where did the Owners Live?
Archaeological surveys over the area surrounding the location Gordon Butcher discovered the Mildenhall Treasure in an attempt to discern where the owners of the silverware lived has proved somewhat of an enigma. When the Mildenhall Treasure was revealed in the 1946, its supposed owners were connected with a Roman building found near the find-spot in 1932. There, excavations revealed a hypocaust system, which was the Roman system of underfloor heating. The building was small and only consisted of a couple of rooms, however the archaeologists leading the enquiry, Tom Lethbridge and Gordon Fowler, concluded that this must have been the house where the Mildenhall Treasure resided.
However, the area surrounding the spot where the Mildenhall Treasure was found and, for that matter, the whole of East Anglia, shows only the remains of a small number of villas that match the size of the wealth the owners of the treasure would have had.
Rather, the wealthiest part of Roman Britannica was further westwards, to places such as Cirencester, the second largest town in Roman Britain and the official capital of the west. There in the surrounding area, a multitude of large and luxurious villas are attested in archaeological remains. These include, for example, villas at Chedworth, Withington, Great Witcombe and Frocester Court all of which show the presence of a large number of rooms, bath-houses, under-floor heating and very fine mosaic floors.
These villas are not only the satisfactory size and grandeur to be the place the Mildenhall Treasure resided, but further than this, the themes on the mosaic floors echo the Mildenhall Treasure’s decorations. Oceanus, Bacchus - both with their accompaniments - along with sea-monsters as well all appear commonly.
Thus it may well have been the answer that the owners of the Mildenhall Treasure had travelled some distance to a place where they then buried the treasure. Although the evidence remains circumstantial, archaeological evidence of more luxurious villas in the west of Britain to match the silverware, rather than the absence in East Anglia, certainly points that direction.
Why was the Mildenhall Treasure Buried?
The problem of establishing why the Mildenhall Treasure was buried is made worse by the fact that we do not know the precise location where the treasure was buried. Ford had forgotten precisely where he found the treasure, which would have elucidated the issue by enabling a close assessment of the burial pit and a study over whether the ground would have been water-logged at the time of the burial.
This examination of the burial pit would have helped answer question whether the Mildenhall Treasure was buried for safekeeping or perhaps, conversely, an offering to the gods.
Ford did, however, provide archaeologists at the time with a sketch of how he found the collection. The drawing illustrated the Great Dish inverted on top of the Niello Dish, while the six flat-rimmed bowls were carefully arranged in a stack. Below the Niello Dish, the Bacchic plates were stacked neatly together and the two sets of spoons were placed carefully inside the fluted dish.
According to Ford’s sketch, the Mildenhall Treasure was buried in a similar way to a later discovery: the Hoxne treasure, found in Suffolk fifty years later. This had been carefully wrapped in straw and textile bags. The burial of the Hoxne treasure is so similar to the Mildenhall treasure that it suggests that the Mildenhall Treasure might have been wrapped in some material that degraded over the centuries, and that both the Hoxne Treasure and the Mildenhall Treasure had been buried by the owners with the intention of retrieving them at a later date. The possible other answer is an offering to the gods by letting the items sink into a swamp-like pit, however Ford’s sketch would seem to contradict that.
This then leaves the question over why the Mildenhall Treasure was buried. By around 410 AD, Britain was no longer part of the Roman Empire. Invasions by the Picts to the north, the Irish from Hibernia and the Angles, Saxons and Jutes from across the North Sea had caused the Romans to give up Britannica and the army and administration mostly departed. There would have been constant invasions and strife leading up to the Romans’ departure in around 410 AD. We know this because archaeological evidence attests the once presence of a chain of forts constructed around the coast of East Anglia and Kent, known as the Saxon Shore, to protect the people of east Britain from invasions from across the North Sea.
The Mildenhall Treasure was, therefore, most probably buried to prevent its capture by invading barbarians. Judging from the Romans’ departure in 410 AD, it was most probably buried at the end of the 4th Century AD or the start of the 5th Century AD. As for its concealers, we can only presume that they either forgot where it was hidden, decided not to retrieve it or were killed before they could do so.
Conclusion
Although the Mildenhall Treasure’s decorations are plain to see, questions still remain regarding how it came to be buried in a field. The elaborate images of Oceanus, Nereids, sea-creatures, and Bacchus and his accompaniments speak clearly of Roman pride in their control over the Mediterranean and the convalescence of paganism and Christianity that is attested in the inscriptions. While it is almost certain that the collection was originally intended as a gift from a high-ranking person at the imperial court to a member of the nobility in Britannica, the question of where the owners lived in Britannica and how it came to be buried in a field near Mildenhall is still left to the imagination. The most plausible answer that we’re left with is that it was buried in transit while travelling from the west to the east of Britannica.