The Corbridge Lanx is the name of a

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 dish found near

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

in 1735. Once part of a large Roman treasure, only the silver lanx remains from the original find. 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 ...

eventually purchased it in 1993.British Museum Collection
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Discovery

In 1735, the daughter of a local

cobbler Cobbler(s) may refer to: *A person who repairs shoes * Cobbler (food), a type of pie Places * The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland * Mount Cobbler, Australia Art, entertainment and media * ''The Cobbler' ...

found the silver lanx on the banks of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

near the village of Corbridge,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. Over a period of about 30 years in the early eighteenth century, a number of silver objects were found in the vicinity, which were probably part of a large Roman

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 ...

. Unfortunately, all other items from the treasure disappeared, with only the Corbridge Lanx remaining. The lanx became the property of the

Dukes of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of N ...

and remained in their possession until 1993, when it was sold by Henry Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland to the British Museum.

Description

The large silver tray is rectangular in shape and is engraved with mythological scenes from antiquity. Designed either as a serving dish for Roman banquets or as a ritual tray for

sacrifices Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks ...

, this particularly extravagant example is similar in style to several platters from the

Mildenhall Treasure The Mildenhall Treasure is a large hoard of 34 masterpieces of Roman Empire, Roman silver tableware from the fourth century AD, and by far the most valuable Roman objects artistically and by weight of bullion in Britain. It may have been found ...

and can be dated to the 4th Century AD. The main scene on the dish shows the god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

at the entrance to a shrine, clasping a bow with a lyre at his feet. To his left enter the goddesses

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

in conversation. The two female deities in the centre have not been conclusively determined. In front of the gods is depicted an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

, flanked by Artemis's hound, a fallen stag and a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

, a mythical animal often associated with Apollo.

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) *T.W. Potter, Roman Britain, 2nd edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1997)

References

{{reflist 4th-century artifacts 1735 archaeological discoveries Silver objects Romano-British objects in the British Museum Treasure troves of late antiquity Treasure troves of Roman Britain Treasure troves in England Apollo in art Artemis in art Athena in art

Discovery

Description

See also

Bibliography

References