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The Risley Park Silver Lanx: A Lost Antiquity from Roman Britain
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 November 2011
Summary
In 1729, a decorated fourth-century Roman silver dish bearing a Christian inscription was found at Risley Park, Derbyshire. Damaged when found, the fragments of the vessel were soon lost, but an illustrated account of it was published by William Stukeley in 1736. Stukeley and later authorities interpreted the inscription as implying that the dish had belonged to a late Roman church in France, and considered that it had been brought to Britain as loot in the Middle Ages. This paper presents a description and assessment of the Risley Park lanx in the light of the greater knowledge of late Roman silver plate now available, and makes the suggestion that the vessel may have been imported into Britain in the Roman period.
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- Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1981
References
NOTES
1 The findspot can be fairly closely located from Stukeley's description, at NGR SK 446365.
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11 The printed version of the letter, followed by Morin, gives Boojcensi, the Society of Antiquaries copy, Boojeensi.
12 The word-order of this sentence differs slightly in the two versions, but appears to be incomplete in both.
13 In the published version, Meldunensis.
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49 I am greatly indebted to Professor A. L. F. Rivet for all the material in this paragraph. Professor Rivet considers that the readings suggesting Bayeux may be discounted, and one should therefore return to Bogiensi or a different misreading based upon it.
50 Dép. Indre, 25 km. north of Chateauroux and 50 km. west of Bourges.
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53 My colleague Patsy Vanags has suggested a link here with the Bodeni of the inscription on the Thruxton (Hants) mosaic pavement (Hinks, R. P., Catalogue of the Greek, Etruscan and Roman Paintings and Mosaics in the British Museum, (London, 1933), M. 35, p.101).Google Scholar
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55 in litt. I am very much indebted to Dr. Martindale for his help on this problem.
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61 Painter, , op cit. in note 5 above.Google Scholar
62 Ibid., nos. 8 and 9.
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