The Chaourse Treasure is a hoard of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

silver found in Chaourse, a village near Montcornet, Aisne in northern France in 1883. Dating between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the treasure is one of the most complete table services to survive from antiquity. This important hoard is now part of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

's collection.British Museum Collection
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Discovery and ownership

The hoard was uncovered by chance in a field near the village of Chaourse and had been deposited wrapped in cloth. Coins were also found with the treasure, the latest dating from the Gallic emperor

Postumus Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus ( 259–269) was a Roman commander of Batavian origin, who ruled as emperor of the splinter state of the Roman Empire known to modern historians as the Gallic Empire. The Roman army in Gaul threw off its al ...

. It appears that tableware was buried shortly afterwards, during the reign of

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He ...

, although the context of the find remains obscure. While a few of the objects date to the 2nd century, most originate from the 3rd century AD. The names of two people - Genialis and Cavarianus - are inscribed on some

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

vessels. They were probably the original owners of the service, who decided to bury the

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

for safe-keeping. Six years after its discovery, the entire treasure was purchased by the British Museum.

Description

The Chaourse Treasure is made up of 39 objects in total, all of which are silver, apart from five small vessels and a silvered bronze mirror. There are four large serving platters; one of which has the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

in its central medallion, another has a gilded figure of the Roman god Mercury holding his

caduceus The caduceus (☤; ; , ) is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was borne by other heralds like Iris (mythology), Iris, the messenger of Hera. The s ...

flanked by a ram and a cockerel. In addition, there are plain silver drinking cups, various jugs, two large situlas one of which has an acanthus-scroll frieze, shallow plates, hemispherical bowls (one of which was used for washing hands), flanged and fluted bowls (some with engraved decoration of animals amid floral patterns), some mirrors, an ornate strainer with floral and

geometric Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

designs, a statuette of the deity

Fortuna Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular thr ...

and a pepper-pot in the shape of an African

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

-boy.

Gallery

Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM.JPG, Silver plate with the figure of Mercury in the central roundel Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM8.JPG, Platter with a six leafed star pattern in the centre Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM4.JPG, Two silver bowls with ornamented engraving Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM2.JPG, Various silver cups and bowls from the treasure Image:Chaourse Treasure -BM.JPG, Silver handled bucket or situla Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM7.JPG, Two platters beside three bowls and a small plate Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM5.JPG, Silver-gilt figure of Fortuna Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM3.JPG, Pepper-pot of squatting slave Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM9.JPG, Strainer with geometric design Image:ChaourseTreasure-BM6.JPG, Platter with swastika in centre next to various bowls and plates

Bibliography

*D. Strong, Greek and Roman Silver Plate (British Museum Press, 1966) *L. Burn, The British Museum Book of Greek and Roman Art (British Museum Press, 1991) *S. Walker, Roman Art (British Museum Press, 1991)

References

{{British Museum 1883 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in France Ancient Greek and Roman objects in the British Museum Silver objects Treasure troves of late antiquity

Discovery and ownership

Description

See also

Gallery

Bibliography

References