Potsherd: Atlas of Roman Pottery

Class: Fine wares

Roman fine wares (Castor ware)
L. Jewitt The Ceramic Art of Great Britain (London, 1883)

Introduction

In addition to terra sigillata, other traditions of fine pottery were current during the Roman period. Many of these vessels can be classed as table wares, and were used as drinking vessels (cups and beakers) or for the service of food (plates and dishes). Common decorative techniques include slipped (or more rarely glazed) surfaces.

Ware	Abstract	Source(s)	From	To
Argonne ware	Red-slipped wares, most characteristically bowls with roller-stamped decoration, produced in the Argonne region (Ardennes/FR) and widely distributed across north-east Gaul and Britain. 3rd and 4th centuries AD.	Gaul	320	410
Central Gaulish black-slipped ware	A fine black-slipped ware, commonly beakers and cups with rouletted or barbotine decoration, produced in Central Gaul and widely distributed across Gaul and Britain during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.	Gaul	150	200
Central Gaulish colour-coated wares	Colour-coated cups and beakers with pale brown or white fabrics, darker red-brown or brown slips and barbotine or rough-cast decoration, produced in Central Gaul and widely distributed across Gaul and Britain during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.	Gaul	40	120
Central Gaulish fine micaceous wares	Platters, jars and flagons in fine textured micaceous wares, red, white or mica-slipped, produced in Central Gaul and distributed there and occasionally in northern Gaul and southern Britain during the late 1st century BC and early 1st century AD.	Gaul	-15	30
Central Gaulish glazed ware	Green-glazed cups and beakers with pale brown or white fabrics, and barbotine or relief decoration, produced in Central Gaul and widely distributed across Gaul and Britain during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.	Gaul	40	80
Colchester colour-coated wares	Colour-coated beakers and other forms produced at Colchester (Essex/GB) and distributed across south and east Britain during the 2nd to 4th centuries AD.	Britain	120	250
Céramique à l'éponge	A range of fine slipped wares decorated with darker marbled or sponged patterns, produced in western France and distributed across western and northern Gaul and southern Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.	Gaul	300	410
Eggshell terra nigra	Beakers in very thin fine black-slipped wares produced in northern Gaul and distributed across north-east Gaul and south-east Britain during the 1st century AD.	Gaul	55	100
German marbled wares	Jugs and flagons in a fine slipped ware decorated with darker marbled decoration produced in the Mosel region (DE) and distributed across the lower Rhine and south-east Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.	Germania	250	400
Hadham red-slipped wares	Red wares produced in the area of Hadham (Herts/GB) and distributed across south and east England during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.	Britain	200	410
London-Essex stamped wares	Fine textured grey or orange wares with roller stamped decoration produced in the south-east England during the 2nd century AD.	Britain	70	125
Lower Rhineland (Cologne) colour-coated ware	Beakers with barbotine, rough-cast and rouletted decoration in fine white wares with dark colour-coated surfaces, produced in the Cologne area (Nordrhein-Westfalen/DE) and distributed across north-east Gaul and Britain during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.	Germania	80	250
Lyon ware	Cups and beakers in a fine pale colour-coated ware with darker colour-coated, decorated with barbotine or rough cast, produced at Lyon (Rhône/FR) and widely distributed across Gaul, the Rhineland and Britain during the 1st century AD.	Gaul	40	70
Nene Valley colour-coated wares	Fine table wares in a pale fabric with darker colour coat, often decorated with barbotine or painted decoration, produced in the Nene valley (Hunts/GB) and widely distributed across Britain during the 2nd to 4th centuries AD.	Britain	150	410
New Forest slipped wares	A wide range of fine tables wares produced in the New Forest (Hants/GB) and distributed across southern Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.	Britain	260	370
North African red-slipped ware	A wide range of fine red-slipped table wares and coarser cooking wares produced in Tunisia and widely distributed around the Mediterranean and across the north-west provinces during the 2nd to 6th centuries AD.	Africa	80	550
Oxfordshire red/brown-slipped wares	A wide range of red-slipped tables wares, often decorated with rouletting, stamps or white slip, produced in the Oxfordshire potteries (Oxon/GB) and widely distributed across Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.	Britain	240	410
Phocaean red-slipped ware	Fine red-slipped table wares produced in western Asia Minor and widely distributed around the eastern Mediterranean (and more rarely in the west) during the 5th and 6th centuries AD.	Eastern Empire	475	550
South Gaulish colour-coated ware	Mould-made hemispherical cups in a fine buff or orange-brown fabric with a pale golden slip, produced at the South Gaulish sigillata factories at Millau (Aveyron/FR) and Montans (Tarn/FR) and distributed across Gaul and Britain during the 1st century AD.	Gaul	40	70
South-east England glazed ware	Flasks, beakers and bowls in a green-glazed grey ware, decorated with white barbotine, distributed in southern England during the 2nd century AD.	Britain	70	120
Spanish colour-coated ware	Cups and beakers in a fine textured pale brown ware with golden-brown slip, typically decorated with floral motifs in barbotine, produced in southern Spain and widely distributed around the western Mediterranean and across the north-west provinces during the 1st century AD.	Iberia	40	80
Terra nigra	Plates, cups and beakers in fine black slipped wares produced in northern Gaul and distributed across north-east Gaul and south-east Britain during the late 1st century BC and 1st century AD.	Gaul	-20	70
Terra rubra	Plates, cups and beakers in fine red-slipped wares produced in northern Gaul and distributed across north-east Gaul and south-east Britain during the late 1st century BC and 1st century AD.	Gaul	-20	60
The `London ware' style	A range of fine-textured grey or black wares with incised or compass drawn decoration produced at a number of sites in south and east England during the 2nd century AD.	Britain	70	150
Trier black-slipped ware (`Moselkeramik')	Beakers and cups in a fine black-slipped ware, commonly decorated with rouletted or barbotine decoration, produced in the Trier region (Rheinland-Pfalz/DE) and widely distributed in lower Germany and Britain during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.	Germania	180	250

Potsherd: Atlas of Roman Pottery

Introduction

Wares

Classes

Sources

Mapping & Databases

Other topics

Class: Fine wares

Introduction