Bursa Treasure

Discovery and original ownership

In the early 1900s, a rich collection of silver articles was unearthed from a tomb near the city of Bursa in the Marmara Region of Turkey. The exact circumstances of the treasure's discovery remains unclear but soon after it was found it was sold to the British Museum by the London art dealer W. C. Bacon & Co. The lack of provenance has made it difficult to determine who the hoard originally belonged to, but most of the extant objects indicate that it was probably part of an elite Roman lady's toiletry from the 1st century AD.

Description

The Bursa Treasure is composed of seven silver cosmetic objects that include a distaff, a toilet vessel, a small pyxis with lid, a simpulum or ladel, a spoon with a handle in the shape of a swan, a large mirror and a patera or libation bowl, the back of which has the faint impression of a Chinese silk garment from the Han dynasty. High quality, luxury artefacts made from precious metal are relatively rare from the early decades of the Roman Empire, although there are similar finds emanating from Pompeii and Boscoreale in southern Italy.

See also

• Arcisate Treasure

Gallery

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  Simpulum from the treasure

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  Small vessel for containing cosmetics

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  Silver pyxis with lid

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  Libation bowl or patera

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)
• H Mangoldt, Der Silberschatz von Brusa/Bursa im British Museum, (British Archaeological Reports, 2005)

References