Cup with Bacchic motifs in high relief,

early 1st century CE

This silver cup was made in five pieces: two cast handles, a cast foot, a hammered inner liner, and an outer wall with repoussé decoration, a metal-working technique in which designs are hammered into the metal from behind. The relief survives almost intact, and much of the scene and its original gilding are preserved. The subject is a grove, dedicated to the wine god, Dionysos, that is filled with ribbons, torches, a wild animal pelt, a statuette of the fertility god Priapus, four masks atop columns, further masks on the ground, and two herms, one featuring the god Pan and the other a satyr. Completing the image are two altars on top of which flames blaze, suggesting that a ritual that is underway. The underside of the foot is inscribed with the name Sisimis, who may have been the cup’s owner or artist.