The Hildesheim treasure crater galvanic silver plated copper Christofle

Maison Christofle.
Replica of the Hildesheim crater.
Galvanic silver plated.

Circa 1874.



On October 17, 1868, a Roman treasure of 70 silverware pieces dating back to the first century BC was discovered in a small town in Lower Saxony named Hildesheim. This discovery, which is absolutely exceptional in terms of richness and state of preservation, is now kept in the Pergam Museum in Berlin.

In 1874, the Parisian house Christofle reproduced the 70 pieces of the treasure using the then revolutionary technique of electroplating, which makes it possible to cast extremely precise copper copies with a thin layer of silver plating using an electrochemical process.

The Hildesheim crater, the rarest and most important piece of the treasure, presents an extremely fine decoration of vegetal scrolls in which putti, sometimes armed with tridents that they point towards crustaceans, are intermingled.

Symmetrical on both sides, confronting griffins spread their wings over the bottom of the crater.

It bears the inscription "Trésor d’Hildesheim fac-similé galvanique Christofle & Cie" on the reverse.

Places of exhibition
Original model: Pergam Museum, Berlin
Reproduction by Christofle : Musée d'Orsay, Paris ; Villa Kerylos, Beaulieu-sur-Mer