049 Hoxon Pepper Pot

The Hoxne treasure is the largest hoard of treasure known from Roman Britain. Hoxne is a village in east England, and the hoard was accidentally found there by a farmer in 1992. It includes around 15,000 gold and silver coins, gold jewellery, and numerous small items of silver tableware including bowls, ladles, spoons, and ornate spice containers including this pepper pot. Excavation also revealed evidence for an iron-bound wooden chest in which the objects had been carefully placed before burial.

We know from the coins in the hoard that the treasure was buried sometime after 407 CE, probably in the 430s. This was the time when Roman control was breaking down in Britain, and it is possible that the treasure was buried as a precaution in these turbulent times, probably by a wealthy family trying to protect their assets before they fled the country. Whoever buried it, it is likely that they planned to return to reclaim their valuable possessions, but for whatever reason were unable to do so.

The pot itself is an example of exquisite Roman tableware—a beautifully gilded silver model of a fashionable Roman lady. She has plaited hair, wears long earrings and holds a scroll. Dining was as popular in Roman times as it is today, and it is clear from the quality of objects like this pepper pot that as much attention was paid to the objects on the table as it was to the food being eaten.

The quality of food on the Roman table was certainly very important—this pepper pot is one of four found in the Hoxne hoard, all made to contain pepper and other spices, and all with clever mechanisms in their bases to allow the contents to be released. Pepper had to be imported from India, so was phenomenally expensive, so these four spice pots tell us that whoever buried the treasure took their food seriously, and were wealthy enough to afford luxury foods like pepper.