1st-4th century AD. A silver cochlearium with 'swan-neck' junction; facetted, round-section tapering shank; shallow bowl shaped like a flask in profile; mounted on a custom-made stand. Cf. Riha, E., & Stern, W.B., Die Römischen Löffel aus Augst und Kaiseraugst, Forschungen, in Augst 5, 1982, for discussion; cf. Jackson, C.J., The Spoon and its History, in Archaeologia, vol.53.80 grams total, 18cm including stand (7"). From a private New York collection; ex Agora Antiques; formerly in a private English collection, prior to 1971. The spoon's shaft tapers to a point; it was used for extracting seafood or snails from their shells. Spoons executed in precious metals were highly valued items in this period in history, so much so that historians and classicists see them recorded in inventories compiled for noble households. Cochlearia like this one have even been discovered in treasure hoards. The absence of Christian symbolism or of a Christian inscription on this spoon might suggest that it dates from a pre-Christian era, or that its owner/commissioner was pagan.