Byzantine sardonyx bowl becomes National Museum of Scotland's greatest donation

A Byzantine sardonyx bowl mounted on a 16th-century gold stand has become the most valuable single object given to the National Museum of Scotland.

Acquired from the estate of the late Edmund de Rothschild, it has been allocated to National Museums Scotland under the acceptance in lieu scheme, which allows donors to leave major works of art to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax.

It was one of six items from the famed Hamilton Palace collection sold to Alfred de Rothschild in 1882.