Provenance Information

Acquired by Münzen und Medaillen (Dr. Herbert Cahn) in Basel, Switzerland, from a European Private Collection prior to 1972; acquired by Ms. Ariel Herrmann from Münzen und Medaillen, Basel, Switzerland, in 1972; given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Ms. Ariel Herrmann in 2014.

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

This work has provenance established to at least 1972. This is a beautifully tooled example of a Roman plate that demonstrates the skills of the carvers of the 1st to 2nd century. Such luxury vessels were intended for display rather than use and were rare in ancient times, and few have survived. The rarity of this piece is made all the more apparent by its well-preserved condition.