Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera
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| Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera | |
|---|---|
 Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera on display in the British Museum | |
| Material | Gold |
| Size | 14.6 cm diameter, 2.89 kg in weight |
| Writing | Ancient Greek |
| Created | 600 BC |
| Present location | British Museum, London |
| Registration | GR 1772.3-14.70 (Jewellery 1574) |
The Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera is an ancient gold libation bowl that was discovered as part of a larger hoard in the seventeenth century near the hilltop town of Sant'Angelo Muxaro in Sicily, southern Italy. Since 1772, this rare and precious find has been part of the British Museum's Ancient Greek collection.[1]
The patera was found in a tomb with three other bowls (two plain and another with bulls) which have since been lost.[2] It later came into the possession of the famous diplomat and antiquary Sir William Hamilton, who sold it to the British Museum in 1772.[3] Together the four bowls would have composed a prestigious treasure that probably belonged to a local monarch in Sicily. It may perhaps have been a gift to a Sicilian king from the western Greeks, as they migrated from the Greek mainland to the fringes of their new empire.
