2-580-049 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

'Empress' pepper pot from the Hoxne hoard, Roman Britain, buried in the 5th century. The pepper pot is in the form of a silver bust of an Imperial lady of the late-Roman period. Found in Hoxne, Suffolk in 1992, it contained jewellery and a variety of precious tableware, buried for safety around the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain. The Hoxne hoard is the richest find of treasure from Roman Britain. From the British Museum's collection