The Mildenhall treasure is one of the most important collections of late-Roman silver tableware from the Roman Empire. Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum.

LONDON.- The Mildenhall Treasure is Britain’s finest late Roman silver dining service, and the Great Dish is its magnificent centrepiece. Dating to the fourth century, it is an enormous disc of pure silver, over 60cm in diameter and over 8kg in weight. It shows a Bacchic revel, the god of wine and his entourage drinking, dancing and generally making merry, and is a masterpiece of Roman craftsmanship. Found in 1942 by a farmer whilst ploughing near Mildenhall in Suffolk, the treasure came to the Museum in 1946 and is considered to be one of the most impressive hoards ever recovered from British soil. This unique display is to accompany a new publication of ‘The Mildenhall Treasure’ by curator Richard Hobbs. 

The display will see a late Roman dining room recreated as a means of demonstrating the Roman habit of eating whilst reclining on a couch, with the Great Dish providing an example of the type of large platter on which food for sharing would have been presented. 

This image of Romans reclining whilst eating is well-known in the popular psyche; a beautiful fresco can currently be seen in the Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition at the British Museum for example which shows guests at a banquet reclining on couches. What is perhaps not so well known is that the couches on which Romans reclined changed over the course of the Roman Empire. In the first century AD, the preference was for three couches to be arranged in a ‘U’ shape or triclinium - a number of examples are still visible in stone at well-preserved Roman towns such as Pompeii. But by the fourth century AD, a semi-circular couch, known as a stibadium, became more common. This is important because it suggests that dining became less formal; whereas the position where one reclined in the triclinium arrangement was strictly controlled, with the host and guest of honour having designated places, the stibadium was more inclusive, giving diners greater opportunity to converse with the whole party - just as today round dinner tables are better for shared conversations than rectangular ones. This suggests that the pastime of eating became more about enjoying the entire dining experience, and the atmosphere of convivial friendship, rather than worrying about your social status because of where you’d been allowed to rest your elbow. 

The fact that the Great Dish was found in Britain suggests that there were some wealthy individuals who indeed reclined on a curved couch whilst they enjoyed a range of fine foods, but the question as to where in Britain such a vessel would have been used requires more imagination. This display will consider the fact that although examples of curved couches have been preserved in other parts of the Empire, none have yet been discovered in Britain. Some rural Roman villas have rooms with curved extensions – an example can be seen at Lullingstone in Kent – and these were almost certainly built to accommodate curved couches, as do the shape of some floor mosaics. 

These discoveries will be brought together in this impressive display to demonstrate how the Roman custom of reclining on a curved couch to dine was just as true in Roman Britain as it was in the rest of the Empire – truly ‘Romanisation’ in action. 

The Great Dish from the Mildenhall treasure: Roman Britain, 4th century AD. Found in Mildenhall, Suffolk. Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum.

The Great dish from the Mildenhall treasure (details).

Flanged silver bowl from the Mildenhall treasure, Roman Britain, 4th century AD. P&EE, 1946 10-7 5. British Museum, London, Great Britain

The decoration on the flat rims shows a variety of animals in hunting and pastoral scenes, themes which fall into the general category of Bacchic imagery. The inclusion of griffins, a mythical species, alongside real animals, is a common feature. The central medallion on this bowl shows a huntsman confronting a bear. Bowls of this shape were popular in late Roman table services.

Fluted silver bowl from the Mildenhall treasure, Roman Britain, 4th century. P&EE, 1946 10-7 15/17. British Museum, London, Great Britain

Decorated with a chased leaf pattern on the flat panels. The centre of the bowl has geometric decoration in the form of an interwoven six-pointed star. This motif, like other geometric and floral designs, was often used decoratively in the Roman period, but it had no connection with Judaism. The formal adoption of the Star of David as a Jewish symbol took place only after the medieval period. Large bowls of this type were evidently intended to hold water for washing hands at table.

Dish with niello decoration from the Mildenhall treasure, Roman Britain, 4th century. P&EE, 1946 10-7 4. British Museum, London, Great Britain

The restrained decoration is carried out simply in engraved lines filled with niello, silver sulphide which provides a black contrast to the silver. It has a diameter of 55.6cm and weight of 5,023 grammes. 

Flanged silver bowl and cover from the Mildenhall treasure, Roman Britain, 3rd-4th century. P&EE, 1946 10-7 11;P&EE, 1946 10-7 12. British Museum, London, Great Britain

It has a dropped horizontal rim and niello decoration. It has a border of Bacchic ornament in relief. The small statuette of a triton which forms a knob may not have been part of the lid's original design. It was not designed to have a lid. The deep domed cover was made later, some time in the fourth century, either for another bowl, or perhaps specifically to fit this one. This bowl is the earliest vessel in the Mildenhall treasure, made in Gaul in the third century. 

The interior of a flanged silver bowl from the Mildenhall treasure, Roman Britain, 3rd-4th century. P&EE, 1946 10-7 11;P&EE, 1946 10-7 12. British Museum, London, Great Britain

It has a dropped horizontal rim and niello decoration. It was not designed to have a lid, however a deep domed cover was made some time in the fourth century, either for another bowl, or perhaps specifically to fit this one. This bowl is the earliest vessel in the Mildenhall treasure, made in Gaul in the third century. P&EE, 1946 10-7 11;P&EE, 1946 10-7 12