Seuso Platter

Seuso Platter

Seuso Platter, late 4th-early 5th century, Late Roman, diam: 70.5 cm, 8.873 kg, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts.

The Seuso Platter is one of the 14 silver objects that make up the Seuso Treasure. This hoard of late Roman silver was at the center of decades worth of debate in the international art market, stemming from falsified documentation with regards to the find site (originally claimed to be Lebanon). A 1990 sale at Sotheby's in New York was stopped after claims to ownership were made by the governments of Hungary, Yugoslavia (Croatia), and Lebanon. Although the exact provenance has not been publicly acknowledged, most evidence supports the belief that the hoard was found by a Hungarian soldier in the 1970s during an illegal treasure hunting dig at a preexisting archeological site. He was subsequently murdered. In 2014, seven of the objects were bought by the government of Hungary, with the remaining seven being purchased in June of 2017 for €28 million.

The name of the treasure derives from the inscription on the Seuso Platter, which reads (in Latin):

“Hec Seuso tibi durent per saecula multa Posteris ut prosint vascula digna tuis.”

“May these, O Seuso, yours for many ages be Small vessels fit to serve your offspring worthily.”

Szépművészeti Múzeum

https://seuso.mnm.hu/en#&chrp=13&sobj=0