drinking to serving silverware. Imagery is now to be found on the medallions and/or
the rims of large open dishes. In one particular case, Mercury has been chosen as a
topic for the medallions of three dishes, each being part of a Gallo-Roman silver
hoard (fig. 14.2). The god is accompanied by his favorite animals and represented,
on two of the dishes, in the middle of a rural sanctuary. One dish was dedicated
to the same sanctuary of Mercury at Berthouville mentioned above and was most
probably made for this very purpose, which from an iconographic point seems quite
suitable. The second one, however, belongs to a hoard of private table silver dis-
covered at Chaourse (Aisne, France) which does not have any connection either with194 Annemarie Kaufmann-HeinimannFigure 14.2 Center of a silver dish belonging to a third-century treasure found at
Chaourse near Montcornet (Aisne, France): Mercury accompanied by a ram and a cock.
The treasure, which consisted of a rich silver service and some coins, seems to have
belonged to some private persons for their personal use, so the scene depicted does not
allude to any cult activities (photo: Monnaies, médailles et antiques, Bibliothèque nationale
de France RC-C-08692).ACTC14 26/04/2007 09:38 AM Page 194