The Mildenhall niello platter
- Gallery: Room 49
- Culture: Romano-British
- Date: 4thC
- Object type: platter
- Materials: silver; niello
- Museum number: 1946,1007.4
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is "The Mildenhall niello platter," a remarkable example of Romano-British metalworking from the 4th century. This large silver platter features a high, wide foot-ring and a beaded rim with 128 beads. The piece is decorated using niello, a black metallic compound used to create contrast in engraved lines.
At the center, a medallion holds rosettes and quatrefoil motifs within a wave-like pattern. Moving outward, the inner rim is divided into six mirrored friezes filled with rosettes, lozenges, and other geometric shapes, all with intricately incised lines and curled ends.
This platter was discovered during ploughing in 1942. It belongs to a careful, geometric style and stands out for its elegant restraint compared to more elaborate works of the same period.
See it in person
The Mildenhall niello platter is on display in Room 49 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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