The Caubiac Treasure is 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 lett ...

silver hoard found in the village of Thil, southern France in 1785 that is now kept in 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 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

.British Museum Collection
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Discovery

In May 1785 a farmer allegedly discovered seven silver objects in a field near the village of Caubiac, in the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

department of southwestern France. Five years later the complete treasure was sold to the English collector

Richard Payne Knight Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...

, who

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...

it to the British Museum in 1824.

Provenance of the Find

For many years the hoard was assumed to have been discovered in Caubiac. However, in 1988 scholars challenged the original

provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

of the find. According to handwritten records kept at the Academy of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, the treasure was actually found at the nearby village of Thil. The error appears to have originated from the fact that the owner of the field where the

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

was found lived in Caubiac, while the field itself was located in the town of Thil, on the site of an ancient castle named Mouillat.

Description

The entire hoard is made of silver. It includes a saucer and three dishes, some of which are decorated with Bacchic scenes, a large plate inscribed with the name 'Benignus', an ornamented cup and a (now badly damaged) fluted bowl with a central medallion of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

with

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

and

Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical ter ...

, which was used for washing hands. The whole set dates from between the late 2nd century and the early 3rd century and probably served to celebrate the cult of

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

. At the base of one of the dishes is inscribed the name 'Benignus Victori Victoris', who was almost certainly the original owner of the treasure. At the foot of the fluted bowl is engraved the name 'Eugrafi' which may refer to a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

craftsman called Eugraphios, who made the set.

Gallery

Image:Caubiac-BM-2.JPG, Fluted bowl from the Caubiac Treasure Image:Caubiac (1).JPG, Serving dish with ornamented bacchic scenes around the side Image:Caubiac (2).JPG, Silver dish with a raised rim Image:Caubiac (4).JPG, Silver cup with bacchic scenes Image:Caubiac (5).JPG, Serving plate with a rim decorated with bead and reel

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) *Boccard (Editor), Le Trésor d'argenterie gallo-romaine de Thil dit le Trésor de Caubiac

References