This 319-page book, published as part of the British Museum Research Publications series, presents the latest research on Roman, Early Byzantine, and Sasanian silver plate, based on the British Museum’s valuable collection. The British Museum holds some of the most extensive collections of silver plate in the world, encompassing artifacts from Britain, Europe, the Mediterranean, and Iran. While these objects have featured in a number of major exhibitions and publications, very little has been published on how the manufacture of these objects developed over time and their overall cultural and social significance.
Utilizing unpublished scientific data, the authors present new insights into the manufacture and decoration of silver plate from Britain to Iran, including the extraction of silver metal, workshop traditions, and the recycling of older material. One of the central themes of this work is how the adoption of silver for coinage in the first millennium BC had a profound and lasting influence on the technology, economy, and artistic production of silver plate during this period.
The book is organized into five main chapters. The first chapter, Primary Production and Manufacturing, examines the extraction of silver and the initial stages of its production. The second chapter, The Production of Silverware in Antiquity, explores the technologies and manufacturing techniques employed in the creation of these objects. The third chapter, Embellishment, Finishing, and an overview, is devoted to the methods of ornamentation and the final finishing processes applied to silver vessels. The fourth chapter, Silver Plate in the Roman and Early Byzantine World, investigates the role and significance of these objects during the Roman and Early Byzantine periods. The final chapter, East of Rome: Sasanian and Related Silver in the British Museum, focuses on the study of the British Museum’s collection of Sasanian silverware and related artifacts.
Through wider contextual and interdisciplinary essays, the book also studies the role of silver plate in the Roman, early Byzantine, and Sasanian worlds, including how silver plate was used in diplomatic exchanges, ostentatious displays of wealth, taxation, and votive gifts to the gods. The editors believe that this multi-disciplinary approach allows comparisons to be made between how silver plate was used across these three cultural spheres, providing unique insights into these objects of wonder.
Book Download Link:
https://britishmuseum.iro.bl.uk/concern/books/e96ee465-c01a-4022-bc20-cd34df896c5e