Late Roman Silver Liturgical Spoon for Kyriakos, Early 5th century A.D. A silver spoon with a narrow egg-shaped bowl, the base of the bowl decorated with engraved palm branches; the long stem attached to the bowl with a round disc set vertically, the square-section part of the stem inscribed with '+KYPIAKO' (for Kyriakos), rest of the stem round-section and decorated with fine grooves, tapering slightly towards the balustered finial. Cf. Shelton, K.J., The Esquiline Treasure, London, 1981, pl.34; Riha, E. & Stern, W.B., Die Römischen Löffel aus Augst und Kaiseraugst, Basel, 1982, items 218-221, for type; Johns, K. and Potter, T., The Thetford Treasure, Roman jewellery and silver, Dorchester, 1983, items 50-82, for type; Gabra, G., Coptic Monasteries, Egypt’s Monastic Art and Architecture, Cairo-New York, 2002; Spier, J., Treasures of the Ferrell Collection, Wiesbaden, 2010, p.278, items 218-222, for type; Humer, F., Kremer, G., Pollhammer, E., Pülz, A., AD 313 Von Carnuntum zum Christentum, Bad Voslau, 2014, nos.338-339, for similar specimens. 55 grams, 24 cm long (9 1/2 in.). Ex Gorny & Mosch, 14 December 2010, lot 483 (part). Property of a European lady. Accompanied by copies of the relevant Gorny & Mosch catalogue pages. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.114496-195521. A relatively large number of spoons of similar type in silver, have been discovered in treasures dating from the late 4th and early 5th centuries, and in graves of undocumented context. One very rich hoard of these objects was the Thetford treasure, where spoons with zoomorphic offsets were found (Johns and Potter, 1983, pp.38ff. and 121ff.). Many spoons were also included in the mid-4th century Kaiseraugst treasure, from Switzerland, and in Esquiline Treasure from Rome (Shelton, 1981, pl.34). These cochlearia were initially used both in Pagan (sanctuary of Faunus, see Johns and Potter, 1983, p.73) and Christian cults in the late Roman Empire. However, in this particular specimen, the engraved name Kyriakos makes it possible that it was used in the Holy Communion.