Footnote 3093:_History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 2 (of 2)

Blümner, _Technol._ ii. p. 91.

Footnote 3094:

_Op. cit._ i. p. 381: cf. Blümner, ii. p. 64.

Footnote 3095:

_Roman Art in Cirencester_, p. 77.

Footnote 3096:

Plaut. _Epid._ iii. 2, 35; Pliny, _H.N._ vii. 198.

Footnote 3097:

_Art. Poet._ 21.

Footnote 3098:

_Sat._ ii. 7, 86.

Footnote 3099:

ii. 3, 48.

Footnote 3100:

_Capt._ ii. 3, 9; Persius, iii. 23; Avianus, _Fab._ 41, 9.

Footnote 3101:

Shakespeare, 1 _Henry VI._, Act 1, scene 5, line 19.

Footnote 3102:

Smith, _Dict. of Antiqs._[3312] i. p. 844: see below, p. 480; also

Vol. I. p. 207.

Footnote 3103:

_Vases ornés_, ii. p. 338.

Footnote 3104:

See Brongniart, _Traité_, i. p. 423 ff.; Blümner, _Technol._ ii. p.

106; Von Hefner, in _Oberbayr. Archiv für vaterl. Gesch._ xxii.

(1863), pp. 23, 35; and _Röm. Mitth._ 1897, p. 286.

Footnote 3105:

See Fabroni, _Storia degli vasi aretini_, pl. 5, fig. 4.

Footnote 3106:

_Handbook to Mus._ (1891), p. 111.

Footnote 3107:

Brongniart and Riocreux, _Mus. de Sèvres_, pp. 16, 128. For Cerialis

see p. 536 and _C.I.L._ xiii. 10010, 544; for Cobnertus, _ibid._ 592,

and Déchelette, i. p. 179.

Footnote 3108:

_Oberbayr. Archiv für vaterl. Gesch._ xxii. (1863), pp. 23, 24.

Footnote 3109:

Blümner, _Technologie_, ii. p. 104, fig. 21; _Brit. Arch. Assoc.

Journ._ iv. p. 19. Déchelette states that about fifty in all are

known (_op. cit._ i. p. 337).

Footnote 3110:

Brongniart, _Traité_, i. p. 424, pl. 30; _Mus. de Sèvres_, p. 128,

and pl. 9, fig. 8.

Footnote 3111:

_Oberbayr. Archiv_, 1863, p. 24.

Footnote 3112:

Examples of this technique often occur in Gaul and Britain: see

Déchelette, ii. p. 169 ff., and cf. Roach-Smith, _Ill. Rom. Lond._ p.

91, and a fine vase from Felixstowe in the British Museum. See also

Plate LXIX. fig. 2, and p. 529.

Footnote 3113:

See below, p. 530, and Déchelette, ii. p. 235 ff.

Footnote 3114:

Blümner, _Technol._ ii. p. 112.

Footnote 3115:

_E.g._ Blümner, _Technol._ ii. pp. 106, 107, figs. 22, 23.

Footnote 3116:

_Gaz. Arch._ 1881-82, p. 17; Brongniart, _Traité_, pl. 30, figs. 2-4:

see also Déchelette, i. p. 141 ff., and below, p. 525 ff.

Footnote 3117:

Cf. Déchelette in _Revue des Études Anciens_, v. (1903), p. 42.

Footnote 3118:

Blümner, ii. p. 110, fig. 25: cf. Von Hefner in _Oberbayr. Archiv_,

1863, p. 56; Fabroni, _Storia degli antichi vasi aretini_, pls. 3, 5,

p. 63.

Footnote 3119:

Blümner, ii. p. 111; Daremberg and Saglio, ii. _art._ Figlinum, p.

1130.

Footnote 3120:

Cf. von Hefner in _Oberbayr. Archiv für vaterl. Gesch._ xxii. (1863),

p. 55.

Footnote 3121:

_Vases ornés_, ii. p. 312.

Footnote 3122:

Mau-Kelsey, _Pompeii_, p. 386; _Bull. dell’ Inst._ 1875. p. 192;

_Mon. Antichi_, i. pl. 8, 7, p. 282.

Footnote 3123:

_Oberbayr. Archiv für vaterl. Gesch._ xxii. (1863), p. 56 ff.: see

also Blümner, ii. p. 23 ff., and Daremberg and Saglio, ii. _art._

Figlinum.

Footnote 3124:

_Bullet. Arch._ 1898, p. 18 ff., and _Mélanges Gallo-romaines_, ii.

(1902), p. 93 ff.

Footnote 3125:

Brongniart, i. p. 439.

Footnote 3126:

_Rev. Arch._ xviii. (1868), pl. 23, p. 297.

Footnote 3127:

See for a full account of the last-named Von Hefner in _op. cit._ p.

8 ff., p. 56, pl. 4.

Footnote 3128:

See _Ann. dell’ Inst._ 1882, pl. U, to which the letters in the cut

refer. Other kilns found at Heddernheim are described in

_Westdeutsche Zeitschrift_, xviii. (1899), p. 215 ff.

Footnote 3129:

See Haverfield in _Victoria County Hist. of Northants_, i. pp. 167,

207 ff.

Footnote 3130:

_Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc._ i. p. 1 ff., ii. p. 164: see also Wright,

_Celt, Roman, and Saxon_^1, p. 264 ff.; Roach-Smith, _Coll. Antiq._

iv. p. 81, vi. p. 181 ff.

Footnote 3131:

No. 958, fol. 105; reproduced by Roach-Smith, _Collect. Antiq._ vi.

pl. 37, fig. 4, and _Ill. Rom. Lond._ p. 79; _Proc. Soc. Antiqs._ 2nd

Ser. xvi. p. 42.

Footnote 3132:

_Proc. Soc. Antiqs._ xvii. 1898, p. 262.

Footnote 3133:

_Ibid._ xvi. (1895), p. 40.

Footnote 3134:

_Vict. County Hist. of Norfolk_, i. p. 291, fig. 7: see below, p. 449.

Footnote 3135:

_Op. cit._ i. p. 314.

Footnote 3136:

_Ibid._ p. 322.

Footnote 3137:

_Archaeologia_, xxxv. p. 91; _Vict. County Hist. of Hants_, i. p. 326.

Footnote 3138:

Roach-Smith, _Collect. Antiq._ vi. p. 191 ff.; _Vict. County Hist. of

Hants_, i. p. 306.

Footnote 3139:

Roach-Smith, _op. cit._ ii. p. 38; vii. p. 1 ff., pls. 1-3.

Footnote 3140:

Wright, _Celt, Roman, and Saxon_^1, p. 264 ff., and Haverfield in

_Vict. County Hist. of Northants_, give the most satisfactory

epitomes of Artis’ descriptions.

Footnote 3141:

Cato, _Agricult._ 38.

Footnote 3142:

Cf. Von Hefner, _op. cit._ pl. 4, 28-31: see also _Arch. Journ._ vii.

p. 176, and an example from Switzerland in the British Museum

(Romano-British Collection).

Footnote 3143:

See also _Röm. Mitth._ 1897, p. 286.

Footnote 3403:

See Hauser’s work on the subject, _Neuattische Reliefs_, _passim_.

Footnote 3404:

Rizzo in _Röm. Mitth._ 1897, p. 291 ff.; Dragendorff in _Bonner

Jahrbücher_, ciii. (1898), p. 104.

Footnote 3405:

_E.g._ by Schreiber, _Alexandr. Toreutik_, p. 401 ff.

Footnote 3406:

Cf. _Anzeiger_, 1897, p. 127 ff.; Pliny, _H.N._ xxxiii. 154 ff.

Footnote 3407:

_Röm. Mitth._ 1897, p. 40 (Siebourg); 1898, p. 399 (Hartwig); _Bonner

Jahrbücher_, xcvi. p. 37; _Mélanges d’Arch._ 1889, pl. 7, p. 288.

Footnote 3408:

_Op. cit._ p. 38.

Footnote 3409:

_Op. cit._ p. 55.

Footnote 3410:

Cf. _Bonner Jahrb._ xcvi. p. 58: also a mould in the B.M. (Plate

LXVI. fig. 5), and _Brit. Mus. Cat. of Terracottas_, D 646.

Footnote 3411:

_Hellen. Reliefbilder_, pls. 1, 9, 10, 21, etc.

Footnote 3412:

See on the subject, _Bonner Jahrb._ xcvi. p. 73.

Footnote 3413:

_Ibid._ ciii. p. 103. On the same article the preceding paragraphs

are also largely based.

Footnote 3414:

_Roman Art_, Eng. Trans., p. 18 ff.

Footnote 3415:

See _C.I.L._ xv. p. 702.

Footnote 3416:

_E.g_. _C.I.L._ xi. 6700, 2, 308, 688, 762.

Footnote 3417:

_Ibid._ 6700, 29, 306, 786.

Footnote 3418:

A fine example has been found at Neuss on the Rhine (_Bonner Jahrb._

ciii. p. 88).

Footnote 3419:

See Dumont, _Inscrs. Céramiques_, p. 390.

Footnote 3420:

_Cyprus Mus. Cat._ p. 94, No. 2116, PRINCEPS TITI, from Salamis.

CHAPTER XXIII

_ROMAN POTTERY (continued); PROVINCIAL FABRICS_

Distribution of Roman pottery in Europe—Transition from Arretine to

provincial wares—_Terra sigillata_—Shapes and centres of

fabric—Subjects—Potters’ stamps—Vases with _barbotine_

decoration—The fabrics of Gaul—St. Rémy—Graufesenque—“Marbled”

vases—Vases with inscriptions (Banassac)—Lezoux—Vases with

medallions (Southern Gaul)—Fabrics of Germany—_Terra sigillata_

in Britain—Castor ware—Upchurch and New Forest wares—Plain

pottery—_Mortaria_—Conclusion.

1. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

The pottery with which we have now to deal is that which was known to

an older generation as “Samian ware,”[3421] but may now be more

appropriately termed _Provincial terra sigillata_. In regard to its

general characteristics, it is distinguished by a fine close-grained

red clay, harder than the Arretine, and presenting when broken an edge

of light red. The surface is smooth and lustrous, of a brighter yet

darker red colour (_i.e._ less like coral) than that of Arretine ware,

but the tone of the red varies with the degree of heat used. The most

important feature is the fine red glaze with which it is coated,

similar in composition to—though not identical with—that of the

Arretine (see the analysis given on p. 436); it is exceedingly thin and

transparent, and laid equally over the whole surface, only slightly

augmenting the colour of the clay, which resembles that of coral or

sealing-wax. The glaze varies in lustre and quality as well as in

colour, but as the analyses show, it is produced on the same principle

at all periods and in all fabrics, Italian and provincial. The

ornamentation is invariably of a coarser nature than that of Arretine

ware, and though it draws its inspiration therefrom, is divided from it

by a considerable interval of artistic degeneration; nor is the missing

link always easy to trace. This ware is found all over Central Europe,

from the Balkan to the Spanish Peninsula, in the forests of Germany,

and on the distant shores of Britain, but in greatest abundance and

effectiveness in the valleys of the Loire and Rhine, a fact which in

itself directs us to look to these districts for the centres of its

manufacture. Wherever found, it is in its main characteristics

identical, and readily to be distinguished from the local wares with

their simple, or entire absence of, ornamentation. The vases are

usually of small dimensions, consisting of various types of bowls,

cups, and dishes, of which two or three forms are preferred almost to

the exclusion of the rest, and they usually bear the stamp of the

potter impressed on the inside or outside. The angular and sharp

profiles of the various shapes indicate that in nearly all cases they

are derived from metal prototypes.

Although this ware is found all over the Roman world, yet by far the

greater proportion of the material at hand comes from the Roman sites

of Gaul, Germany, and Britain, and evidence points to two—and only

two—districts as the principal centres of its manufacture: the valleys

of the Loire and the Rhine and their immediate neighbourhood. Even in

Italy the material is exceedingly scanty, and much of the pottery found

in Rome or Campania can be proved by the potters’ stamps to have been

imported from Gaul. In Greece the finds of _terra sigillata_, though

covering a wide area, are few and far between, and we are hardly in a

position to state whether these are local fabrics or importations.

Dragendorff notes[3422] that in the museum at Bonn there are fragments

from Athens, Eleusis, Rhamnus, Oropos, Epidauros, Eretria, Argos,

Delos, and Troy, and others in private possession at the same place

from Alexandria. In the museum at Dimitzana in Arcadia there is a vase

with Latin stamps, and another without stamp is preserved at Chanak

Kalessi on the Dardanelles. Furtwaengler records a few fragments from

Olympia,[3423] one with OCT · SALVE, and fragments have also been found

at Pergamon. There are a few cups from Cyprus in the Museum at St.

Germain-en-Laye, and others at Nicosia.[3424] But it must not be

forgotten that, as has already been noted (p. 476), there is evidence

of manufacture of red relief wares in Greek lands under the Empire, and

much of the above-mentioned material may not be able to lay any claim

to a Western origin.

For the potteries of Central and Western Europe there is indeed no

literary evidence, for, as we have seen (p. 479), Saguntum is the only

provincial place of any reputation in antiquity, although modern

excavations have not upheld its claim. All the evidence is necessarily

derived from excavations, and from finds of moulds and potteries; but

by the careful and scientific researches of Von Hefner, Dragendorff,

Déchelette, and other investigators on Gaulish and German sites results

have been obtained of incalculable value for establishing the

provincial centres which during the first century of the Empire

inherited the traditions of Arretium. In the succeeding enquiry,

therefore, we shall devote our attention almost entirely to the _terra

sigillata_, of which Gaul, Germany, and Britain have yielded such

abundant quantities, and after a general consideration of its history

and characteristics, shall discuss in detail the peculiarities of

separate fabrics.[3425]

* * * * *

In his invaluable treatise on _terra sigillata_[3426]—the first

comprehensive attempt at a general scientific discussion of the subject

which has been contributed—Dragendorff collected a series of over fifty

varieties of forms (almost exclusively cups, bowls, and dishes), which

embrace all the examples of Arretine and provincial wares with

relief-ornamentation. Of these he considers the first fourteen peculiar

to the Arretine ware, but there are other vases found both in Italy and

the provinces which in form and colour are not distinguishable from the

Arretine, and seem to be undoubted examples of early importations. Such

vases are found at Andernach, Neuss, and Xanten on the Lower

Rhine,[3427] bearing the stamps of Ateius, Bassus, Primus, and Xanthus,

who are also frequently found in Southern Italy.[3428] With regard to

the first-named, however, there is evidence to show that he may have

worked in Southern Gaul, and the Italian origin of this pottery is not

absolutely certain.[3429] At all events, the finds in Germany to which

a date in the first century can be given seem to show the adoption of a

new form of dish differing from that characteristic of Arezzo[3430];

this new form is also common at Pompeii (probably as an importation),

and is found on the Limes at Saalburg with the stamp BOLLVS FIC. It is

usually quite plain, and seems to have lasted down to the end of the

third century. Another variety (No. 18) was found at Andernach with a

coin of Antonia Augusta, and at Este in Italy with a stamp SERRAE,

which belongs to the time of Augustus. From it a later form (No. 31)

was developed.

[Illustration:

FIG. 221. GAULISH BOWL (FORM NO. 29); FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST.

]

[Illustration:

FIG. 222. GAULISH BOWL (FORM NO. 30);

FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST.

]

As a general rule these early provincial forms were unornamented, but

the two types of bowl or cup which Dragendorff numbers 29 and 30, and

which are reproduced in Figs. 221, 222, become the normal form for the

provincial relief-wares of the first century. These are not found in

the Arretine ware, but occur all through that century, not only in

Gaul, but also, for instance, in the _castra_ on the frontier of

Germany.[3431] The only Arretine form which seems to have prevailed to

any extent in the provinces is the krater (Dragendorff’s No. 11 = Fig.

219).[3432] Other kinds of deep cups with expanding sides

(Dragendorff’s Nos. 22-27) are found occasionally in Italy and on

various sites in Germany, and can be traced from their first appearance

in the first century for about a hundred years.[3433] Nos. 24 and 25

are found at Xanten (Castra Vetera) with coins of Julius Caesar and

Nero, others in the cemetery of Bibracte near Autun, which is known not

to be later than the time of Augustus.[3434] The general conclusion

seems to be that these wares represent a sort of transitional stage

between those of Arretium and the indubitably provincial _terra

sigillata_. Towards the end of the first century they are supplanted,

notably at Lezoux and in Germany, by the hemispherical bowl

(Dragendorff’s No. 37 = Fig. 223), which subsequently becomes the only

form employed for the moulded wares.

[Illustration: FIG. 223. GAULISH BOWL (FORM NO. 37); A.D. 70-260.]

In pursuing his investigation of the provincial fabrics of the first

century,[3435] Dragendorff begins by discussing various groups of vases

found in Germany which seem to represent a period of transition between

the Italian Roman (and the local native) pottery and the provincial

_terra sigillata_ proper, which is not usually found before the middle

of the century. First we have a kind of light-red ware, formerly known

as “false Samian,” which lacks the strong lustrous sheen of the genuine

_terra sigillata_; the tone Hettner considered to be the result of mere

polishing, without any glaze or slip.[3436] The forms are heavier and

coarser, and are not confined, as in the genuine fabric, to deep cups

or shallow bowls, but include a sort of beaker or tumbler-shaped

cup,[3437] and a slim jar with characteristic incised ornament. They

are found in the oldest Roman tombs at Andernach, about A.D. 60.[3438]

Contemporary with this (from Augustus to Vespasian) was a kind of black

ware with incised linear ornament, resembling that described under a

subsequent heading (p. 515); it bears the same potters’ stamps as the

light-red ware, and is interesting for its close relation to the older

La Tène pottery, showing its origin to be Celtic or Gaulish, not Roman.

The centre of fabric for these wares, which are limited in their

distribution to the Rhenish provinces, Normandy and Southern Gaul,

seems to have been Trier, which place is as nearly as possible the

centre of all the sites on which they have been found; it is further

evident that both the red and the black were made in the same pottery.

Dragendorff styles these fabrics “Belgic,” on the ground that they are

mostly found in the province of Gallia Belgica. It is conceivable that,

as that province became organised in the first century, potters from

Southern Gaul settled at Trier. A pottery of that epoch has been found

there, with remains of black, grey, and light-red ware, and a piece

found at Andernach with the stamp DVRO/CVAVO shows evidence of having

been made at the former place.[3439] The potters’ stamps include both

Roman and non-Roman names. These wares are very rarely found in

Britain.[3440]

We now come to the _terra sigillata_ fabrics proper, which extend from

about A.D. 30 or even earlier to 250, and exhibit a great difference

from the earlier fabrics.[3441] There is no longer any question of

Italian manufacture or of unsuccessful provincial imitations of Italian

ware, but of a provincial fabric of excellent technique and real

artistic individuality. The material for our purpose is supplied by the

Gaulish cemeteries and pottery-sites of the Rhone and Allier valleys,

the Cevennes, Normandy, and Belgium, by those of the Rhine valley and

Southern Germany, and those of Britain. In Northern Gaul this pottery

is found with coins ranging from Caligula to Commodus, and in the forts

on the German Limes, such as those on the Taunus range and along the

Main, the coins extend from Vespasian to Gallienus (A.D. 260), in whose

time occupation ceased on the right bank of the Rhine.

In considering the probable centres of fabric we find a remarkable

correspondence in the potters’ stamps in the most widely-separated

localities, indicating a limited number of centres which had a great

reputation. Thus, for instance, in comparing lists of stamps found in

London with those from Douai in France Roach-Smith noted that no less

than three-fourths of the names occurred in both places.[3442] The same

investigator, now many years ago, was acute enough to deduce the

conclusion from this and other similar evidence that in Britain there

was no local manufacture of _terra sigillata_[3443]; and he has been

justified by more recent researches, based on a much more extensive

command of material. The two chief authorities on this subject at the

present day, Dr. Dragendorff and M. Déchelette, are agreed in their

main conclusions that the centre of this fabric must be sought in Gaul,

and since the appearance of the latter’s treatise on the Gaulish

potteries, there seems little doubt that it was in the first century at

Graufesenque near Rodez in the Cevennes (Condatomagus), in the

succeeding period at Lezoux in Auvergne, where extensive remains of

potteries have come to light. Dr. Dragendorff based his arguments on

the following facts:

(1) The potters’ names are largely Gaulish.

(2) Names are found in other parts which are known to be from a

Gaulish centre such as Lezoux.

(3) Gallic epigraphical peculiarities, such as [dotted circle] for O,

[cursive D] for D, and OV for U, are found in the inscriptions.

(4) Even names of an undoubted Latin type, such as Julios and

Priscos, end in the Gallic termination -_os_.

(5) Cursive forms such as 15[14]Attic alpha reversed for A,

15[12]cursive E for E, 15[12]cursive F for F, and [cursive L] for

L, are frequently found, as also in Gaulish inscriptions of the

second century.

That he was working on the right lines has been now shown by M.

Déchelette, who has employed as the basis of his researches the more

conclusive evidence of discoveries, especially of finds of moulds and

remains of potteries. But of this more will be said subsequently.

On the other hand there were two large potteries in Germany, at

Rheinzabern, near Speier, and at Westerndorf, in Southern Bavaria,

where ornamented vases were undoubtedly made. They were apparently not

largely exported, but many of the stamps also occur on the plain wares

from these potteries, implying that the ornamental vases must also have

been made by the local men.[3444] The pottery of Westerndorf begins

about the middle of the second century. Dragendorff notes that of all

the Gaulish potters’ stamps only forty-one have been found in Italy,

and many of these only in Cisalpine Gaul, while others are very rare.

In regard to the forms, the chief fact to be noted is that new shapes

and methods of decoration now appear with the growth of the provincial

potteries, unknown in Italy, and the earlier bowls and dishes are not

found (for instance) at Rheinzabern.[3445] One form of dish (No. 32) is

new, but another (No. 31) is clearly developed from the Italian type

(No. 18). An essentially Gaulish form of deep bowl or cup is No. 33;

another with handles (No. 34) is only found at Banassac. The _mortaria_

with spout and pebbles inserted for grinding (see below, p. 551) now

first make their appearance, especially in the Limes forts and in

Britain. Many of the forms clearly indicate an imitation of metal.

Déchelette notes that of the forms given by Dragendorff (Nos. 15-55)

about twenty in all are found in Gaul, including the three used for

moulded wares (see below, and p. 501).[3446] To these he adds sixteen

new forms, which he numbers 56 to 71, and for the vases with

_barbotine_ or _appliqué_ decoration six more (72-77) must be included

in the list.[3447]

The next feature to be considered in these vases is the decoration,

which is not confined, as in the Italian wares, to reliefs obtained

from moulds, but is also produced by ornaments applied to the surface

of the vase, either in the form of separate figures or medallions

modelled by hand or made from moulds and then attached, or by the

method known as _en barbotine_ (see below, pp. 512, 529). Sometimes the

decoration takes the form of impressed or incised patterns (p. 515),

but these are more characteristic of the commoner wares. For the

present we may limit the discussion to vases in which the decoration is

produced at the same time in the mould.[3448]

Vases of this type exhibit a remarkable monotony of form, being, as

already noted, practically confined to two varieties of the bowl or

deep cup, one with curved, the other with straight, sides (Forms 29 and

30 = Figs. 221, 222), at least up to the middle of the first century.

In the latter half of that century these are supplemented by a third

variety (Form 37 = Fig. 223), and at the same time a gradual diminution

in the sharpness of the outlines, as in the reliefs themselves, becomes

apparent. No direct connection with the Arretine ware can be traced,

either in the forms or in the decoration. The potters’ stamps are found

at first in the interior, as on the plain wares, but subsequently on

the exterior, in the middle of the design.

At first there is a general absence of figure subjects, and the designs

are purely ornamental, or else animals, such as birds or hares, are

introduced as mere decorative elements. An important distinction from

the Italian wares should be noted, viz. that in the latter the wreaths

or scrolls which play such an important part in the decoration are

composed of single detached leaves or flowers, whereas in the

provincial wares the whole wreath is modelled in one continuous system,

either formed of undulating motives, as at Graufesenque, or of a

straight wreath or band of ornaments, as at Lezoux.[3449] On the other

hand the figure compositions are never continuous until the ”free”

style comes in at Lezoux with the second century, but are broken up by

ornaments into metope-like groups. The typical arrangement is that of a

wreath between rows of beads or raised dots, with a triple band of

hatched lines or “machine-turned” ornament above, and rays or

pear-shaped ornaments below, pointing downwards. Sometimes the wreath

is duplicated; or the frieze is broken up into metope-like groups of

animals bordered by ornament, as in the first-century bowls found in

France and Italy, which Déchelette attributes to the potteries of

Condatomagus (Graufesenque in the Cevennes).[3450] With the

introduction of the hemispherical bowls (form 37) comes a new system,

in which the upper edge is left plain, followed by a band of

egg-and-tongue ornament; then comes the main frieze, and below this a

simple wreath. This form and method first appear at Lezoux about A.D.

70, and at Rheinzabern with the beginning of the next century. The

final stage is reached when the decoration consists of figures either

arranged in medallions and arcades, or freely in friezes, a system

which obtains exclusively at Westerndorf, and on the bulk of the _terra

sigillata_ found in Britain. Along with these changes in arrangement

goes a steady artistic degeneration.

As regards the subjects, it may be generally observed that the

conceptions are good, but the execution is poor. In many cases they are

obviously imitations of well-known works, and it is curious that no

Gaulish subjects occur. The types include representations of gods and

heroes, warriors and gladiators, hunters and animals. In general they

are of Hellenistic origin, and include all such subjects as are

characteristic of the art of the period.[3451] At first, however,

purely decorative motives hold the field, in imitation of the Arretine

ware, and it is not until after the disappearance of the latter that

figure decoration is found. We have imitations of sculpture, as in the

types of Venus bathing or the Diana _à la biche_, and of the

Hellenistic reliefs with genre and idyllic subjects, as in the scenes

with fowlers or fishermen.[3452] The “new-Attic” reliefs furnish models

for types, as in other branches of Roman art (see pp. 368, 489), and

Eros, Herakles, and Dionysiac subjects are universally popular.

Among the mythological types Dragendorff has collected the

following[3453]: Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaistos, Hermes, Aphrodite,

Artemis, and Athena; Dionysos, Herakles, Victory, Fortune, and Cupids;

Amazons, Giants, sea-monsters, Gryphons and Sphinxes, Pygmies and

cranes; Bellerophon, Aktaeon, the rape of the Leukippidae, and Romulus

and Remus suckled by the wolf. The gladiatorial subjects closely follow

the types of Roman art, and the favourite theme, a combat of two in

which one is worsted, resembles a common type on the lamps (p.

416).[3454] Thus, though the style of art is essentially provincial,

the subjects draw their inspiration exclusively from classical

sources.[3455]

A series of examples from Britain may be noted as covering in their

subjects the ground indicated; they are mostly from Roach-Smith’s

extensive collection, now in the British Museum.[3456] They include a

vase with figures in separate compartments: Diana, Minerva, Hercules,

Bacchus, a man with a cup, and Satyrs and Nymphs; another with Hercules

in the Garden of the Hesperides killing the serpent, Diana, warriors,

and panels of ornament; a third with Bacchus and a tiger, Luna, and

Genii with torches. Others have Apollo with Diana or pursuing Daphne;

Diana and Actaeon; copies of statues of Venus (of the Cnidian or Medici

type); the labours of Hercules, Bacchanalian orgies and processions,

and such deities as Victory, Fortune, Cupids, and Anubis, as well as

Satyrs and Fauns, Gryphons, Sphinxes, and Tritons. On the vase of

Divixtus illustrated in Plate LXVIII. fig. 2, the subjects are Venus at

her toilet, Diana with a stag, and a Silenus carrying a basket of

fruit. The subjects from daily life include hunting scenes of various

kinds; dogs pursuing stags, boars, or hares; combats of _bestiarii_

with various animals; musicians, and gladiators. Ornamentation of a

purely decorative character includes animals and trees, and

representations of fruit, flowers, and foliage, either in scrolls or

interspersed with other objects. Roach-Smith also gives a curious

example from Hartlip in Kent[3457] with two separate friezes of figures

and the potter’s stamp SABINI·M[3458]; on the upper band are Leda and

the swan and a seated goddess with cornucopia; on the lower, Diana with

a deer, under a canopy, and Victory crowning a warrior, the various

groups being several times repeated. The style is very rude, and though

the subjects are classical, the figures and designs are very barbaric,

almost mediaeval in appearance.[3459]

The _terra sigillata_ fabrics appear to have lasted on down to the end

of the fourth century in the provinces, but are by that time not only

rare, but exceedingly degenerate. Some found at Andernach can be

attributed to the reign of Magnus Maximus (A.D. 388), and in others,

apart from the style, the costume of the figures resembles that of the

fourth century[3460]; the potters’ stamps by this time have entirely

ceased.

* * * * *

The names of potters which, as we have seen, so frequently occur on the

provincial wares are nearly all Gaulish in form or origin, and this, it

has been noted, is one of the strongest arguments for the Gaulish

origin of the pottery. The stamps are usually quadrangular in form, but

sometimes circular or oval, or in the form of a human foot; they are

depressed in the surface of the vase, but the letters are in relief.

There is considerable variation in the form of the letters, which are

often cursive (see p. 504), often ligatured, and frequently single

letters or whole words are impressed backwards. The names are either in

the nominative, with or without F, FEC, FECIT, or in the genitive with

OF, OFFIC, etc., M, or MANV; the Gaulish word AVOT for FECIT is also

found.[3461] It is rare to find a potter with more than one name, and

probably few of the Gaulish potters were Roman citizens[3462]; on the

other hand, there are few undoubted examples of slaves’ names. Some

groups of names seem to indicate partnerships, such as VRSVS FELIX,

PRIMI PATER(_ni_), SECVND(_i_) RVFIN(_i_); in other cases the name of

the father is also given, as TORNOS VOCARI F(_ilius_), VACASATVS

BRARIATI F,[3463] but it is not impossible that the formula may mean,

“Tornos the slave of Vocarius,” or, “Vacasatus the slave of Brariatus

made (_fecit_).” In Aquitania stamps occur with FAM(_uli_) or NEPOTIS

added after the name. Some groups of names are peculiar to certain

localities, Amabilis, Belsus, Domitianus, Placidus, etc., being found

only in Germany; other potters give a hint of their origin, adding to

their names ARVE or AR for Arvernus, the district of the Arverni,

corresponding to the modern Auvergne. Vases are found at Lezoux with

the stamp RVTENVS FECIT[3464]; here the name may be a deliberate

intention of the Rutenian potter, to show that the vase was not made

locally. The name Disetus, which is found on the Rhine, occurs in

Gallia Belgica in the form Diseto, the variety being due either to

differences in date or in the place of fabric. Among peculiarities in

the stamps may be mentioned an instance, given among those from

Britain, where the potter from ignorance or caprice has impressed the

stamp of an oculist, intended for a quack ointment, on the bottom of a

cup (found in London, and now in the British Museum).[3465] It reads: Q

· IVL · SENIS · CR | OCOD · AD · ASPR (_crocodes_, an ointment made

from saffron). In 1902 some interesting _graffiti_ were found on

pottery at Graufesenque (cf. those given on p. 239), being apparently

notes made by the potters, such as VINAR(_ia_), ACET(_abula_),

TAR(_ichos_), and so on, as well as the names of the potters and the

quantity of the contents in each case.[3466] But it is not possible to

ascertain the forms corresponding to the names given in _graffito_.

Some peculiarities of the potters’ stamps may be noted among those from

Westerndorf and Rheinzabern, in which certain combinations occur on the

same vase.[3467] Thus at Westerndorf we find:

COMITIALIS · FE — CSS · EROT

COMITIALIS · F — { CSS · ER

{ CSS · MAIANVS·F

SEDATVS · F — CSS · ER

CSS · MAIANVS — CSS · ER

at Rheinzabern:

CERIAL · FE — CONSTANT

COMITIALIS · FE — { IOVENTI

{ LATINNI

{ SECVNDAIANI[3468]

The names Comitialis and Cerialis are found on stamps interspersed

among the designs, and therefore made with the vase in the mould, but

those with CSS occur on the rim, and were therefore added subsequently.

It will be noted from the above examples that the names like

Comitialis—Primitivos is another instance—are common to more than one

fabric, but those in the second series are peculiar to one; the latter,

therefore, refer to the actual potter (_figulus_), the former to the

designer of the decoration (_sigillarius_), whose moulds were employed

in more than one place. It is an interesting parallel to the ἔγραψεν

and ἐποἰησεν of the Greek vases. This conclusion receives additional

confirmation from the discovery of certain types of decoration both at

Rheinzabern and Westerndorf, showing that there was a system of

exchange between the two potteries.[3469] The name CSS is only found at

Westerndorf, and it has been supposed that it denotes C. Septimius

Secundianus, a name which occurs in the neighbourhood. The name of

Comitialis is found on a vase from London in the British Museum,

presumably imported from Germany.[3470]

Representations of potters are not unknown in Gaulish art; and there

are also allusions to them in inscriptions. Some are depicted wearing

the tunic only, and thereby proclaiming their servile condition; others

wear the cloak also, as for instance one Casatus Caratius,

_fictiliarius_, who is represented on a _stele_ at Metz holding a

fluted vase like those made in black ware.[3471] On another, L.

Aurelius Sabinus is represented, with an _amphora_, _olla_, and

_lagena_ in the background, and an inscription which runs, _L. Aurelius

Sabinus doliarius fecit sibi et suis_.[3472] Several inscriptions found

in Germany speak of _negotiatores artis cretariae_, and may be assumed

to refer to what we should call “commercial travellers“ or “agents” for

the sale of the finer wares. In an inscription found at Wiesbaden

Secundus Agricola is mentioned in this capacity, and in another from

Dornburg, Secundinus Silvanus, a native of Britain.[3474] M. Messius

Fortunatus, whose name actually occurs on pottery, is described in

inscriptions as being also _pavimentarius_ (road-maker) and

_paenalarius_ (cloak-maker).[3475]

Apart from the potters’ stamps, some interesting inscriptions have been

found on the vases from Rottenburg in Germany. There are examples with

the names of the consuls for A.D. 237, Didius Caelius Balbinus and M.

Clodius Pupienus Maximus (the first year of their reign).[3476] Others

have the names of the legions stationed in the _colonia_ of Sumlocene

or Solicinium, which this site represents, with the dates A.D. 169

(LOCEN ·A · V · C · MLVI), 248 (C · STI · A · V· C · CDI), and 303, and

the names of the twenty-first and twenty-second legions.[3477] Incised

inscriptions on Roman pottery are common throughout the provinces, as

the pages of the _Corpus_ indicate, but are more usually found on the

plain wares than on the _terra sigillata_. Among the more interesting

examples is a vase in the Louvre, of the first century after Christ, on

the neck of which is incised GENIO TVRNACENSIVM, “To the Genius of

Turnacum” (Tournay)[3478]; another found at Ickleton in

Cambridgeshire[3479] had (_ex ho_)C AMICI BIBVNT, “Friends are they who

drink from this”; a third from Leicester, VERECVNDA LVDIA LVCIVS

GLADIATOR, supposed to refer to a love-token or present from a

gladiator to his mistress.[3480] A vase of black ware from Taplow,

Bucks, in the British Museum has a Greek inscription.

* * * * *

We next come to the discussion of the vases decorated in the method

known as _en barbotine_.[3481] This is exceedingly rare in Italy, and

it is probable that the vases there found are importations; the process

seems to have been invented in Gaul or Germany, and the only parallel

thereto in earlier ceramic art is in the method employed for the gilded

vases of the fifth and fourth centuries (see Vol. I. p. 210). At its

first appearance it occurs on vases of common grey or black unglazed

ware, found at Andernach with coins of Claudius and Nero,[3482] but by

the end of the first century it is also employed on glazed wares, red

or black, and even on the enamelled glazed vases of Gallic or German

origin. The ornamentation is at first exceedingly simple, consisting of

plain leaves, chains of rings, or raised knobs, as on the examples

found in Italy; but it developed rapidly, and the patterns become very

varied. Its chief merit is that it is essentially a free, not a

mechanical method, and some of the specimens from the Rhine and Britain

have really effective compositions of animals and interwoven scrolls.

Even human figures find a place; but towards the end of its popularity

the ornamentation encroaches upon and finally ousts the figure

subjects, and degeneration is manifested in artificiality and crowding

of detail. In the earlier examples there is a marked preference for a

slip presenting a contrast of colour to the clay, and we find white

used on red and black ware, brown on buff ware (early German vases in

the form of human heads), and so on.[3483]

In Gaul, barbotine is limited to subsidiary decorative patterns, and is

never used for figures as in Germany and Britain (see below and p.

544); it is very common in the North of France. At Lezoux it was

employed in the earlier period of that pottery (A.D. 50-100) for simple

leaf-patterns, in the later (A.D. 100-260) to complete the decoration

of vases with _appliqué_ reliefs (p. 529).[3484]

The black glazed wares decorated _en barbotine_ are characteristic of

the second century, and extend down to the fourth.[3485] The clay is

actually red, with thin walls, but is covered with a black or

dark-brown varnish, often with a metallic lustre, which when too much

baked turns to red, and thus presents the appearance of _terra

sigillata_. The barbotine is either of the same colour as the clay, the

varnish being subsequently added _over it_, or composed of white or

yellow slip and applied after the varnish. The decoration usually takes

the form of leaves or scrolls, or of simple raised knobs; but figures

of dogs, hares, and deer are found, and occasionally men.

On the red or _terra sigillata_ wares the barbotine process is not

found earlier than the middle of the first century; there is none, for

instance, at Andernach. It is practically unknown in Italy, and a few

fragments from that country in the Louvre and Dresden Museums are

probably importations. Moreover, it is confined to forms which only

appear with the development of the provincial potteries. The earliest

specimens are found with coins of the Flavian epoch at Trier and

Xanten; it occurs also in Germany and Britain, and there are examples

at Speier from Rheinzabern, but it does not seem to have been made at

Westerndorf. The ornamentation is very limited in its scope, and from a

strictly artistic point of view it was not really suited for any but

simple patterns of leaves (especially those of the ivy or of lanceolate

form) or for running animals. Figures of hunters, gladiators, or

_bestiarii_ are occasionally found. From the very nature of the process

no fine details were possible, and all must be executed in long, thin,

and soft lines. Sometimes, however, scrolls in barbotine were combined

with figures of men and animals made from moulds, as on the Lezoux ware

described below (p. 529). Potters’ stamps are rare, but Dragendorff

gives examples from Cologne, Bonn, and Speier.[3486] It has been

pointed out by the same authority that the influence of glass technique

is strongly marked, not only in the method, which suggests the

imitation of threads and lumps of spun glass, but also in the forms,

which frequently occur in the provincial glass ware of the period, then

rising into prominence.[3487] Examples of British barbotine ware are

given on Plate LXIX.

The other method of decoration to which we have alluded, that of

indented ornamentation, is undoubtedly an imitation of glass technique,

and the forms (flasks and small cups or bowls without feet or handles,

of ovoid or spherical form) are equally characteristic of that

material.[3488] The decoration consists of linear patterns and

sharply-cut ornaments in the shape of an olive or barley-corn, often

combined with naturalistic foliage. This ware may be dated by coins

between A.D. 100 and 250; there are no examples with potters’ stamps,

but it seems to have been made at Lezoux, Trier, and Westerndorf, and

exported to Britain and elsewhere.

What may be described as a variety of this technique, but occurring in

the red glazed wares, is a method of decoration in rows of linear

incised patterns, usually in small rectangular panels of hatched lines.

These belong to the time of the decadence of the ceramic industry,

_i.e._ to the fourth century, and are found chiefly in North and East

France and Germany, not in Central or Southern Gaul. There are examples

from the Department of Marne in the British Museum (Morel Collection).

The patterns are made with wooden stamps, not with the usual running

wheel. Déchelette thinks the method originated in Germany with the

vases of the La Tène period.[3489]

In order to elucidate further the development and characteristics of

the provincial Roman pottery, it may be found serviceable to turn our

attention to the various sites which are known to have been centres of

manufacture, or which have yielded pottery in large quantities, and at

the same time to indicate the main points of difference between the

fabrics of Gaul, Germany, and Britain.

2. THE FABRICS OF GAUL

The pottery of Gaul presenting the closest relationship, both

artistically and chronologically, with that of Italy, it will be most

convenient to accord it precedence. Hitherto a general survey of the

Gaulish fabrics has hardly been possible, as the materials had not been

collected and studied as a whole; and such a task was obviously beyond

the capacity of any one who had not the advantage of a personal

acquaintance with the mass of material now available in all parts of

France. But since the indispensable and exhaustive work of M.

Déchelette has appeared, it has rendered superfluous all the previous

literature on this particular subject. This scholar has earned the

gratitude of students by his careful study of the pottery excavated on

certain sites in Southern France, by means of which much light has been

thrown on the Gaulish fabrics of the first century, at the time when

the _sigillata_ industry was just taking root in Gaul, and had hardly

freed itself from Italian influences. In one section of his work he

deals with the finds made in 1895-1900 at Saint-Rémy on the Allier,

about four miles from Vichy,[3490] in another with those of 1901-02 at

Graufesenque, near Rodez, in the Cevennes region,[3491] and thirdly

with the important fabrics of Lezoux.[3492] With these and others of

more or less importance we shall deal successively in the following

pages.

* * * * *

At =Saint-Rémy= no traces of actual furnaces were found, but fragments

of moulds, etc., showed clearly that it was an important centre, not

only for pottery, but also for terracotta figures. As a rule little

chronological evidence is to be obtained from finds in France owing to

the confused and unstratified condition of the remains, or from absence

of scientific records; but in the present case we are fortunate in

possessing a series of homogeneous types belonging to the earliest

period of _sigillata_ ware in Gaul; an entire uniformity of clay,

technique, form, and decoration shows that they must all belong to one

circumscribed epoch, in spite of the absence of coins or other definite

evidence. At the same time it has been possible not only to connect

them with finds at Mont Beuvray (Bibracte), near Autun, which can be

dated not later than 5 B.C., at Ornavasso, on Lago Maggiore (coins of

Augustan epoch), and at Andernach (also Augustan, see pp. 502, 533),

but also to obtain a clue to their originals and prototypes.

[Illustration:

From _Déchelette._

FIG. 224. VASE OF ST.-RÉMY FABRIC.

]

The forms of the vases fall under five clearly-defined heads: a

_poculum_, or tumbler-shaped vessel, a _scyphus_ with flat-topped

handles, a straight-sided open bowl, flasks with or without handles,

and of conical form or pear-shaped (see Fig. 224). All the vases are of

white clay, with reliefs, but there are no potters’ stamps, and the

execution is often imperfect; the secret of the red ware seems as yet

unknown, but there is evidence that it was gradually substituted for

the white, and the typical bowl with sloping sides and continuous

scrolls of foliage (Dragendorff’s No. 29 = Fig. 221) introduced here as

elsewhere. In the Saint-Rémy fabrics this bowl only has a single row of

ornament, a tongue-pattern, scrolls, or arcading round the lower part.

The general conclusion reached by M. Déchelette is that down to the end

of the first century B.C. two kinds of pottery were introduced into

Gaul: the Arretine ware, which occurs at Bibracte with the stamps of

Annius, Memmius, and Tettius, and a class of small goblets and flasks

of yellowish clay which in many respects resemble the Saint-Rémy type.

The latter sometimes bear the name of ACO ACASTVS,[3493] a potter who

appears to have worked in the region of Savoy or Piedmont, and who was

inspired by the Arretine technique and style of signature. His ware

also occurs in Lombardy at Ornavasso, and at Klagenfurt in Pannonia,

where a fragment was found (Fig. 225) with his name and an inscription

which runs: “Life is short, hope is frail; come, (the lights) are

kindled; let us drink, comrades, while it is light.”[3494] He certainly

belongs to the Augustan epoch, and may be regarded as the immediate

inspirer of the Saint-Rémy fabrics. Hence about the beginning of the

first century of our era it may be inferred that the potters of

Saint-Rémy and district began to “exploit” the Italian technique, but

following the Gallo-Italic method of Aco rather than the Arretine. The

typical decorative motive by which this pottery may be recognised is a

kind of arcading, which from having floriated points gradually tends to

assume a purely vegetable form. Some of the vases are only ornamented

with rows of raised points, and this feature occurs on others with the

potters’ names L. Sarius Surus and Buccio Norbanus. Figure decoration

is found only on the pear-shaped flasks, in the form of animals (Fig.

224) and bearded heads. To the same period belongs a series of vases

manufactured at Vichy and Gannat in the same district.[3495]

[Illustration:

From _Déchelette._

FIG. 225. VASE OF ACO (FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST), WITH INSCRIPTION.

]

* * * * *

The results obtained from =Graufesenque=, in the Department of Aveyron,

have been even more remarkable. This place represents the ancient

Condatomagus, in the country occupied by the Ruteni, and appears to

have been a great centre of the _terra sigillata_ industry. Although it

is not mentioned by Pliny, yet there must have been in his time large

exports southwards from this part of Gaul, even as far as Campania. M.

Déchelette has shown that it supplied not only Gaul and Italy, but even

Africa, Spain, and Britain, to a greater extent than any other

centre—that, in fact, from A.D. 50 to 100 it was the seat of the most

important pottery in the whole empire.[3496]

Remains of pottery were first discovered in 1882 by the Abbé Cérès,

including a series of moulds, which made it certain that this was a

centre of fabric. These discoveries were largely supplemented by

further excavations in 1901–02. Among the moulds are those of certain

potters which are only found here, and consequently afford satisfactory

evidence that such potters can be localised in this region. The potters

were not itinerant, nor were the moulds transferred from one pottery to

another; but the important central pottery seems to have attracted a

group of smaller ones to collect round it, just as we find Cincelli

linked to Arezzo (p. 483), and the moulds could be exchanged from one

to another within this limited area.

The local pottery of Gaul, which in the first century B.C. had reached

a high level,[3497] was interrupted about the time of Augustus by the

invasion of Italian methods, by which it was very rapidly Romanised,

and Gaul became a mere tributary of Roman industry. At first two kinds

of technique were practised—one with a white or yellow clay, as at

Saint-Rémy and Bibracte; the other in the ordinary red ware, which

appears to have been employed exclusively at Condatomagus and Lezoux,

at first following on the lines of the Arretine ware, but subsequently

attempting new developments. Artistically it is inferior to the

Arretine, but it is much more varied. Besides the _terra sigillata_

proper, or moulded ware with reliefs, which is by far the most

numerous, we find in Gaul several other varieties of technique:

_appliqué_ medallions, separately moulded and attached with barbotine,

in imitation of the Greek metal ἐμβλήματα; barbotine decoration; a

class of so-called “marbled” vases; and incised decoration of simple

linear patterns made with a tool in the moist clay, but with bold and

skilful execution. But practically the wares found at Graufesenque are

limited to the moulded class, and the others, which will be described

subsequently, only became general in the second century, when the

Lezoux potteries came to the front and those of Graufesenque were

exhausted.

In the _terra sigillata_ wares three forms assume marked prominence,

those illustrated in Figs. 221–223; they are found in fairly equal

proportions, but the earliest form, which we may call for convenience

No. 29, has a slight preponderance. We shall see later that similarly

the latest form (No. 37) prevails at Lezoux; this form was introduced

about A.D. 70. The intermediate No. 30 is found at both, but more

frequently at Graufesenque. The only other found in the moulded wares

is a bowl on a high stem, which closely follows the type of the

Arretine krater seen in Fig. 219; it is therefore either common to

Arretium and Condatomagus, or represents a transition from one fabric

to the other.[3498] Déchelette quotes an instance with the stamp VOLVS,

which recalls the Arretine potter Volusenus.[3499]

About three-fourths of the vases are ornamented, the decoration falling

into two categories: (1) an earlier class with ornament only, occurring

on the forms 29 and 30 (see Plate LXVII.); (2) a later with figures,

such as animals or gladiators, the forms being Nos. 30 and 37. Of the

ornamental motives on form 29, there are five principal types[3500]:

(_a_) simple winding scrolls; (_b_) scrolls combined with figures in

medallions; (_c_) scrolls combined with panels of “arrow-head” pattern;

(_d_) bands of semicircles enclosing volutes which terminate in

rosettes; (_e_) figures in metopes. In this form the decoration is

almost always in two friezes, a natural consequence of the shape of the

vase; the metopes or geometrical compartments only come in with form

37. In the latter form seven successive types of decoration may be

distinguished: (α) a transitional system with metopes, derived from the

older form[3501]; (β) metopes with wavy borders, a

------------------------------------------------------

PLATE LXVII

[Illustration:

GAULISH POTTERY OF FIRST CENTURY AFTER CHRIST (GRAUFESENQUE FABRIC)

(BRITISH MUSEUM).

]

------------------------------------------------------

diagonal or cruciform pattern often occupying alternate panels (cf.

Plate LXVII. fig. 2)[3502]; (γ) large medallions, often combined with

inverted semicircles (_chiefly found at Lezoux_: cf. Plate LXVIII. fig.

3); (δ) arcading (_rare at Graufesenque_); (ε) arcading and semicircles

combined; (ζ) large foliage-patterns or vine-leaves, often interspersed

with animals; (η) friezes of “free” figures (_not found at

Graufesenque_: cf. PlateLXVIII. fig. 1).

In regard to the figure subjects, mythological types are rare, and

generally there is not so much variety as at Lezoux. Déchelette reckons

177 different types in all, of which 112 are peculiar to the fabric,

whereas no less than 793 are peculiar to Lezoux.[3503] Hence, he points

out, the origin of any Gaulish vase may be determined from the nature

of the types alone. In artistic execution they are unequal, some being

copies of popular themes, others of a naïve and unsophisticated

character. Gaulish elements are conspicuously absent. Although the

difference from the Arretine style is strongly marked, there is yet the

same tendency to display the influence of toreutic prototypes, and even

of the “new Attic” reliefs and the _genre_ types of the Hellenistic

period.[3504] But others are original and non-classical in style, and

there is no homogeneity. Each pottery doubtless had its favourite

subjects—a point which may prove of use in determining the separate

fabrics. In any case, figure-subjects only prevailed for a short period

at Condatomagus, whereas at Lezoux and in Germany they extend over a

considerable period. For Gaul did not become Romanised before the reign

of Titus; hence the previous absence of mythological themes. The potter

Libertus (see below, p. 527), who worked at Lezoux about A.D. 100,

stands out as the foremost potter and modeller in Gaul, who, brought up

on classical traditions, influenced the whole pottery of the country.

The question of the chronology of these Rutenian fabrics depends more

upon the results of comparison with other sites than on the internal

evidence of the finds. None of this pottery, for instance, is found at

Bibracte, which was deserted about the beginning of our era; but at

Andernach vases with Rutenian potters’ stamps are found with coins

ranging from Augustus to Nero. They are also abundant at Xanten, Neuss,

and Vechten in Holland. Evidence may also be obtained from the German

Limes, where form 29 disappears about A.D. 30. The exportation of

Rutenian wares, therefore, began about the reign of Tiberius. Their

wide distribution may be traced by a study of the inscriptions in the

thirteenth and other volumes of the Latin _Corpus_.[3505] In Britain

they are found in London[3506] and at Silchester. Out of thirty-four

ornamented vases from the latter site in the Reading Museum, M.

Déchelette attributes exactly half to Condatomagus, representing the

first century, and the other half to Lezoux, representing the

second.[3507] In Italy this ware is found at Rome and Pompeii, and of

the typical Rutenian subjects some twenty have been noted among the

_terra sigillata_ in Roman museums. The potters Bassus, Jucundus,

Mommo, and others of Rutenian origin are found at Rome, whereas the

only one from the Auvergne district there is Albucius[3508]; and the

same names occur at Pompeii, especially that of Mommo, whose stamps are

characteristic.[3509] The latter group of vases, moreover, supply, as

in other cases, important evidence for dating the Rutenian vases; they

show, not only that Mommo and the others were in full activity before

A.D. 79, but that mythological subjects—not found on the Pompeian

examples—were only introduced towards the end of the pottery’s activity.

Another well-known potter who appears to have worked at Condatomagus is

Vitalis, whose signature in full or in the form OF · VITA is well known

there. He is also found as far afield as Carthage and on the east coast

of Spain.[3510] This is additional testimony to the extent and quantity

of exportations from this centre, and to its position as the most

flourishing manufacture in the Roman empire at the time. This

popularity it could never have acquired if the fabrics of Arretium,

Mutina, and Puteoli had not now reached their decadence; nor, if those

of Auvergne, such as Lezoux, or of the Rhenish provinces had been

already in full activity, would the Rutenian wares have penetrated into

Central Gaul and Germany. M. Déchelette notes as an interesting fact

that in some collections of Roman pottery debased wares with Arretine

stamps are to be seen, apparently not later than A.D. 80, and evidently

imitations of Rutenian ware[3511]; these bear the names of L. Rasinius

Pisanus and Sex. M. F., of whom mention was made in the last chapter

(p. 485). There is no evidence that this pottery was in existence after

A.D. 100, and its rapid disappearance is certainly due to the rise of

Lezoux, where, as noted below, Rutenian potters’ stamps are not

uncommon in the first century.

Déchelette has collected forty-three names of Rutenian potters, which

are distributed over two hundred and thirty-two vases or fragments

known to him.[3512] On form 29 the stamps are only found in the

interior of the vases, and hence are not found on the moulds, but both

were probably made by the same potters. Vases of the other two forms

are often unsigned. Of individuals Mommo occurs sixty-three times,

Germanus thirty-eight. The same writer points out that the evidence

from Graufesenque would overthrow any theory of itinerant potters, if

on no other grounds, from the fact that the moulds of a particular

potter are only found on the one spot.

A group of vases which must be mentioned here, though a very small one

and not strictly belonging to the _terra sigillata_, is that of the

yellow ware with red marbling.[3513] It consists of a small group of

bowls and dishes with a dull yellow slip covered with veins of a red

colour, producing a variegated effect. Eight of these were found at

Trier, one with the stamp of Primus, and there are a few others in

German museums. In Southern Gaul, as at Arles, they are more common,

and others have been found at Lyons and Vichy. The British Museum

possesses one from Bordighera and three from Arles, and they are also

known in Sardinia and Southern Italy; there are two at Naples from

Pompeii with the stamp of Primus.[3514] The latter fact gives a

_terminus ante quem_ for their date, and it is probable that some place

in Southern Gaul was the centre of the fabric. Dragendorff suggested

Arles, where stamped examples have been found; but Déchelette points

out that all the potters’ names are Rutenian, and this is conclusive

evidence in favour of Graufesenque; in any case we have here an

instance of exportation from Gaul into Italy. It is not certain in what

manner the marbling has been produced; it is probably an imitation of

glass.

* * * * *

Yet another example of a fabric which was imported from Gaul into Italy

is to be seen in the pottery of =Banassac=, a class of vases with

inscriptions of a convivial character, with letters in relief

encircling the body.[3515] The form is that of the hemispherical bowl

No. 37, the appearance of which at Pompeii shows that it was developed

before A.D. 79. They are found in large numbers in the south of France,

especially at Nismes, Orange, Vienne, Montans (Tarn), as well as

Banassac; at the latter place fragments have been found on the site of

a pottery, showing that they were made there. The most notable example

(Fig. 226) was found at Pompeii, and is now in the Naples Museum[3516];

it is inscribed BIBE AMICE DE MEO, “Drink, friend, from my (cup),” the

letters being separated by leaves, and is of ordinary red _terra

sigillata_ ware. Here, again, it is possible to date the fabric in the

first century, not later than the reign of Vespasian. On the local

specimens are found such sentiments as _Gabalibus felicit(er_), _Remis_

(_felici)ter_, _Sequanis_ _feliciter_[3517]; _veni ad me amica_; _bonus

puer_; _bona puella_; the two last-named recalling the seaside mugs of

the nineteenth century. The convivial inscriptions we shall meet with

again in a later fabric from the region of the Rhine (p. 538). _Terra

sigillata_ was also made here and at Montans in the Department of Tarn;

the decoration is in the form of metopes, denoting the transitional

period (about A.D. 70). No potters’ names are found on the inscribed

vases.

[Illustration:

From _Mus. Borb._

FIG. 226. VASE OF BANASSAC FABRIC, FOUND AT POMPEII.

]

* * * * *

The pottery of =Lezoux=, in Auvergne, was first carefully studied by

the late M. Plicque,[3518] who excavated there on a large scale in 1879

and succeeding years, and obtained as a result of his researches no

less than three thousand different potters’ names, as well as the

substructures of about a hundred and sixty furnaces, forty of which

were in good preservation, comprising sixty-six distinct manufactories.

About twenty-three more manufactories were traced along the principal

roads and the banks of the Dore and Allier. He also found numerous

remains of tools, potters’ wheels, and other apparatus. In addition, he

excavated some two hundred tombs containing quantities of pottery,

which seemed to imply a general use of it in funeral ceremonies. The

potteries here seem to have been already in full working order in the

time of Vespasian, and lasted down to about A.D. 260. The earliest date

to be obtained from the evidence of coins is about A.D. 70, but the

earliest fabrics seem to go back to the time of Claudius; the date of

destruction of the site is indicated by coins of Gallienus and

Saloninus found among the burnt ruins.

A large proportion of the vases have potters’ stamps, but there is no

rule about the signatures.[3519] In the vases of form 29 the names are

in the interior, denoting the masters of the potteries; in the later

forms they are on the exterior, having been placed on the inside of the

mould before baking, usually among the ornament. The ordinary formula

is OF, M, or F, with the name in the genitive. As to the distribution

of Lezoux vases, there was, as noted below, little exportation before

A.D. 100, but after that time they prevail over Britain and Germany.

Déchelette gives ninety-two examples with potters’ stamps in Britain,

including twenty-one names. A few specimens have been found in North

Italy; Paternus occurs at Turin, Albucius at Rome.

------------------------------------------------------

PLATE LXVIII

[Illustration:

GAULISH POTTERY FOUND IN BRITAIN; LEZOUX

FABRIC; A.D. 70-250 (BRIT. MUS.).

]

------------------------------------------------------

Of the moulded or _terra sigillata_ wares twelve different forms are

found, of which as elsewhere three prevail to the exclusion of the

others.[3520] The krater type (Dragendorff’s No. 11) is only found in

the earliest period, about A.D. 40-50, and as already noted (p. 520)

forms 29 and 30 are not so common as at Graufesenque, while form 37,

which practically took the place of 29, occurs in great quantities.

Déchelette distinguishes three chronological epochs of development,

covering respectively the periods A.D. 40-75, 75-100, and

110-260.[3521] In the first period the decoration of form 29 develops

in the same manner as at Graufesenque, but with this important

variation, that the running scroll is replaced by a _straight_ pattern

of vine or oak leaves, or bands of rosettes or circles. The colour of

the glaze is lighter than at Graufesenque, the reliefs more delicately

modelled. The potters of this period, all of whom use form 29, are

Atepomarus, Cobnertus, Danomarus, Iliomarus, and Petrecus. It will be

noted that these are all Gaulish names, whereas those at Graufesenque

are all Latin.

To the second period (A.D. 75-110) belong the bowls of form 37 with

transitional or metope decoration, or in the “free” style, which is

employed by Libertus, an important potter of Trajan’s reign.

Exportations now first begin, and examples are found on the Limes, but

generally speaking they are few in number, and while the Rutenian

potteries existed the output must have been limited. After the reign of

Trajan, however, large numbers were exported to Britain and Germany.

The cruciform ornamentation (p. 521) is found on the forms 30 and 37,

and a peculiar type of egg- or astragalus-pattern (borrowed from

Arretium) is used by Butrio and Libertus. Figure subjects, introduced

by Libertus, now become general, especially animals and hunting-scenes

(see for an example Plate LXVIII. fig. 1). The typical potters of the

period are Butrio, Libertus, Carantinus, Divixtus (Plate LXVIII. fig.

2), Juliccus, Laxtucissa, and Putrius.

The third period (110-260) is represented almost exclusively by the

form 37 with decoration in “free” style or large medallions and

wreaths; a few examples of form 30 and the _olla_ (Déchelette’s No. 68:

cf. p. 529) are found. The chief potters’ names are Advocatus, Banuus,

Catussa, Cinnamus (Plate LXVIII. fig. 3), Doeccus, Lastuca, Paternus,

and Servus. Of these, Paternus belongs to the period of the Antonines,

and he and Cinnamus, says M. Déchelette, represent the apogee of the

prosperity of Lezoux, and of its export commerce. The period of

degeneration is marked by the appearance of barbotine decoration and

imitations of metal (see below). It is difficult to say exactly when

the potteries came to an end, but there is no evidence that _terra

sigillata_ was manufactured after the third century, and Plicque is

probably right in attributing their destruction to the German invaders

in the reign of Gallienus.

The wares characteristic of the earlier period include _dolia_ of

coarse clay and other plain fabrics, as well as the various types of

_terra sigillata_. Among the latter are examples of importations from

the Graufesenque and Banassac potteries and other places in the Aveyron

district, but the majority are of local manufacture. These include,

besides the moulded red wares with figured decoration and potters’

stamps, orange-red wares, yellow polished wares (often micaceous), and

black ware with barbotine ornamentation, on which potters’ stamps are

not found. Lezoux was also a centre for the enamelled glazed wares

which have been described in Chapter III. In the later period the red

wares are ornamented with figures from moulds, or with barbotine, or

have lion’s-head spouts (see below). The marbled vases (p. 523) are

also found, and in the third century the vases with _appliqué_ reliefs,

with incised or hollowed-out ornamentation, or bronzed in imitation of

metal, are the prevailing types.[3522]

The salient points of difference between the earlier and later fabrics,

says Plicque, are these. The clay of the earlier is only baked to a

small degree of heat and is not vitreous, but is exceedingly porous. It

is also frequently full of micaceous particles. Subsequently it becomes

more vitreous but less porous; it is more compact and sonorous, free

from mica, and more brilliant and lustrous. In the earlier, the forms

are artistic and symmetrical, the ornament sober and elegant,

remarkable for its taste and simplicity. The figures are enclosed in

medallions, and the ornaments consist of rays or rounded leaves, rows

of beads, and guilloche-patterns. In the later, the art degenerates,

the ornamentation becoming heavy and overcrowded, and the figures are

broken up and badly arranged; the forms of the vases, too, become

heavier. The principal decorative pattern is the egg-and-tongue round

the rim. In the potters’ stamps of the two first periods the letters

have frequent ligatures and abbreviations; the names are often in the

nominative or with OFFICINA _preceding_ the name. Later, the letters

are coarser and ligatures are rare; the names are usually in the

genitive, _followed_ by M (_manu_) or OF(_ficina_). The characteristic

15[12]U for V found in the middle of the second century should be noted.

Among the subsidiary fabrics of Lezoux the most remarkable is that of

the vases with _appliqué_ reliefs.[3523] They are formed entirely on

the wheel, and the decoration is made separately from moulds (p. 440),

and attached with barbotine, either in the form of a medallion or with

an irregular outline, varying with the figure. Barbotine in many cases

is also employed for foliage patterns filling in the background. The

usual form is that of a spherical or ovoid vase (Plate LXIX. fig. 2),

which may perhaps be termed an _olla_,[3524] with short neck and no

handles. It may be noted in passing that such shapes could not

conveniently be moulded, hence the variation of form when we pass from

_terra sigillata_ to other methods of decoration. In the third century

this combined process largely supplanted the moulded wares at Lezoux.

The paste and glaze, however, are identical with the _terra sigillata_.

No potters’ signatures have been found on these vases, but they occur

all over Gaul, including Belgium and Switzerland, and also in Britain.

In the British Museum (Romano-British Room) there are two very fine

specimens found at Felixstowe in Suffolk, one of which is that given on

Plate LXIX. Roach-Smith mentions others from London, York, and

Richborough,[3525] and they are also known at Évreux in France. A good

but imperfect example from Gaul is in the Morel Collection, now in the

British Museum, and has figures of Herakles and Maenads. The modelling

in some cases is admirable, especially in the Felixstowe vases, and in

the London specimens published by Roach-Smith, with masks and figures

of Cupid. These vases represent the latest stage of the ceramic

industry of Lezoux.

Another class of vases made at this centre which may be mentioned here

includes a series of _paterae_, _oinochoae_, and _trullae_ (p. 470)

with ornamented handles, all obviously made in imitation of

metal.[3526] Of the _paterae_ there is a good example in the British

Museum from the Towneley Collection, ornamented with athletic contests

and cock-fights round the edge. M. Déchelette (ii. p. 319) thinks some

of the oinochoae made at Vichy may be imitations of the bronze jugs

which are found at Pompeii, but many seem to be of a later date.

During the period A.D. 100-400, and especially in the third century, a

class of red wares appears at Lezoux in the form of large bowls with

spouts in the shape of lions’ heads.[3527] These were wrongly

identified by Plicque with the _acratophorus_ (p. 464), but they are

clearly mortars (_pelves_, _mortaria_), in which food was ground or

cooked, the spout serving the purpose of straining off liquid. The

lions’ heads are made from moulds and attached with barbotine. Some of

these have potters’ names. As a class they must be distinguished from

the plain _mortaria_ of grey or yellow ware described below (p. 551).

* * * * *

With the South of France it is necessary to connect a series of

medallions with reliefs, intended for attachment to vases of _terra

sigillata_ ware.[3528] In one or two cases the vases themselves have

been preserved, but usually the medallions alone remain; there are also

examples of the moulds in which they were made.[3529] Nearly all of

these have been found in the valley of the Rhone, at Orange or

Vienne,[3530] the rest in other parts of France, such as Lezoux, along

the Rhine, or at Rome (two examples). They were probably made at

Vienne; but there was also a fabric in Germany, examples of which occur

at Cologne, Trier, and Xanten. The subjects of the reliefs are very

varied, ranging from figures of deities to gladiators or even animals;

they frequently bear inscriptions, and their date is the third century

after Christ.

[Illustration: FIG. 227. MEDALLION FROM VASE OF SOUTHERN GAUL: SCENE

FROM THE _CYCNUS_ (BRITISH MUSEUM).]

As long ago as 1873 Froehner published a series from Orange,[3531] with

such subjects as Apollo, Venus Victrix, Mars and Ilia, a figure of

Lugdunum personified, the freeing of Prometheus and the death of

Herakles, Dionysos and Ariadne, a bust of Hermes, a gladiator, a cock

and hens, and a bust of the Emperor Geta, the last-named serving as an

indication of date for the whole series. Several were inscribed, that

with Venus Victrix having CERA FELICIS, which probably refers to the

wax in which the figures were first modelled, though some have thought

that it represents the Greek κερα(μέως). Another trio from Orange[3532]

represent respectively:—(1) a chariot race in the circus, with the

inscriptions FELICITER, LOGISMUS (a horse’s name), and PRASIN(_a_)

F(_actio_), “the green party”; (2) Fig. 227, a scene from a play,

probably the _Cycnus_, in which Herakles is saying to Ares, the

would-be avenger of his son, “(Invicta) virtus nusquam terreri potest,”

the god proclaiming “Adesse ultorem nati me credas mei”; in the

background, on a raised stage or θεολογεῖον, are deities; (3) an actor

in female costume. There are also three in the Hermitage Museum at

Petersburg, of which two represent Poseidon, the third Hermes.[3533]

Caylus also gives a representation of a vase with three such

medallions, with busts of Pluto and Persephone, Mars and Ilia, and two

gladiators.[3534] Where gladiators with names appear it may be assumed

that they are portraits of real people, and Déchelette argues from this

that the vases were made specially in connection with gladiatorial (or

theatrical) performances.

[Illustration:

From _Gaz. Arch._

FIG. 228. MEDALLION FROM VASE OF SOUTHERN GAUL: ATALANTA AND

HIPPOMEDON.

]

An interesting group found at Vienne and Vichy[3535] have subjects

taken from the Thirteenth Iliad, such as Deiphobos and the Locrian

Ajax, or Hector fighting the Achaeans. Among the remaining examples

known the most interesting are three from Orange, one of which

represents a festival in honour of Isis, the other two, the victory of

Hippomedon over Atalanta (Fig. 228), with an inscription of three lines:

Respicit ad malum pernicibus ignea plantis,

Quae pro dote parat mortem quicumque fugaci

Velox in cursu cessasset virgine visa.[3536]

History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 2 (of 2) · 第 25 / 27 章