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 ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

silver dish found near

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

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 public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

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, and sometimes makes, shoes Places * The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland * Mount Cobbler, Australia Art, entertainment and media * ''The Cobbler'' (1923 film) ...

found the silver

lanx A ''lanx'' (Latin for dish) was a large ancient Roman serving platter.Lysons, Daniel & Lysons, Samuel"Antiquities: British and Roman" Magna Britannia vol 5, 1817, pp. CCIII-CCXVIII. Accessed November 26, 2007. Particularly ornamented ones were used ...

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 Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

near the village of Corbridge,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. 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 ...

and remained in their possession until 1993, when it was sold by

Henry Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland Henry Alan Walter Richard Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland (1 July 1953 – 31 October 1995), styled Earl Percy until 1988, was a British peer. He was the eldest son of Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, and a godchild of Queen Elizabet ...

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 A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

or as a ritual tray for

sacrifices Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

, 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 silver tableware from the fourth century AD, and by far the most valuable Roman objects artistically and by weight of bullion in Britain. It was found at West Row, near Mild ...

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

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

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 mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

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 religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

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

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, 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 works 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