Romano-British Period--Pottery--Durobrivian Ware--Upchurch
Ware--Salopian Ware--Pottery found at Uriconium--Potteries of
the New Forest, of Yorkshire, and of other places--Sepulchral
Urns--Domestic and other vessels.
The pottery of the Romano-British period, so far as relates to what
is found in the grave-mounds of that people, consists, in the main,
of cinerary urns, jugs (so called), pateræ, amphoræ, bowls, and vases
of various kinds. Of the pottery alone of this period, sufficient
interesting matter to fill a couple of goodly volumes might easily be
written. It will, therefore, be at once understood that in a work like
the present, which is simply intended to be a descriptive sketch of the
contents of grave-mounds, elaborate accounts of the different kinds of
ware made by that people, and of the modes of manufacture which they
adopted, would be unnecessary. The principal divisions are the Samian
ware, the Durobrivian ware, the pottery of the Upchurch marshes, the
Hampshire ware, the Salopian ware, and the Yorkshire wares, and to
these divisions I shall devote some few pages, and in so doing express
thanks to my friend, Mr. Thomas Wright, for some excellent articles[41]
on the Durobrivian, the Upchurch, and the Samian wares, which he has
written. Before proceeding to speak of the different vessels found with
interments, it will be well to glance at these different wares and
their characteristics.
[Illustration: Fig. 212.]
The _Durobrivian_ or _Castor ware_, as it is variously called, is the
production of the extensive Romano-British potteries on the river Nen
in Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, which, with settlements,
are computed to have covered a district of some twenty square miles
in extent. The discovery of this pottery and of the kilns in which
its productions were fired, etc.--one of which is engraved on fig.
212--is due to the late Mr. Artis, who prosecuted his examination of
the locality with great perseverance and skill. There are several
varieties of this Durobrivian ware, and two especially have been
remarked; the first, blue or slate-coloured, the other reddish-brown
or of a dark copper colour. The former was coloured by a simple though
curious process, which Mr. Artis was enabled to investigate in a very
satisfactory manner. It will, perhaps, be best told in his own words.
“During an examination of the pigments used by the Roman potters of
this place,” he says, “I was led to the conclusion that the blue and
slate-coloured vessels met with here in such abundance, were coloured
by suffocating the fire of the kiln at the time when its contents had
acquired a degree of heat sufficient to ensure uniformity of colour.
I had so firmly made up my mind upon the process of manufacturing and
firing this peculiar kind of earthenware, that for some time previous
to the recent discovery [in 1844] I had denominated the kilns in which
it had been fired _smother kilns_. The mode of manufacturing the
bricks of which these kilns are made is worthy of notice. The clay
was previously mixed with about one-third of rye in the chaff, which,
being consumed by the fire, left cavities in the room of the grains.
This might have been intended to modify expansion and contraction, as
well as to assist the gradual distribution of the colouring vapour.
The mouth of the furnace and top of the kiln were, no doubt, stopped;
thus we find every part of the kiln, from the inside wall to the earth
on the outside, and every part of the clay wrappers of the dome,
penetrated with the colouring exhalation. As further proof that the
colouring of the ware was imparted by firing, I collected the clays of
the neighbourhood, including specimens from the immediate vicinity of
the smother kilns. In colour some of these clays resembled the ware
after firing, and some were darker. I submitted them to a process
similar to that I have described. The clays dug near the kilns whitened
in firing, probably from being bituminous. I also put some fragments
of the blue pottery into the kiln; they came out precisely of the same
colour as the clay fired with them, which had been taken from the side
of the kilns. The experiment proved to me that the colour could not
be attributed to any metallic oxide, either existing in the clay or
applied externally; and this conclusion is confirmed by the appearance
of the clay wrappers of the dome of the kiln. It should be remarked,
that this colour is so volatile that it is expelled by a second firing
in an open kiln.” Fortunately, some of the kilns remained almost
entire, and many had been left with the pottery partly packed in them
for firing, so that there was no difficulty in understanding the nature
of the process here employed by the Roman potters.
[Illustration: Fig. 213.]
[Illustration: Fig. 214.]
[Illustration: Fig. 215.]
This Durobrivian pottery is especially interesting, from its being
covered with ornaments and figures, in relief, like those on the
Samian ware, but not like it cast from moulds. “The vessel,” Mr. Artis
remarks, “after being thrown upon the wheel, would be allowed to become
somewhat firm, but only sufficiently so for the purpose of the lathe.
In the indented ware, the indenting would have to be performed with
the vessel in as pliable a state as it could be taken from the lathe.”
The ornamenter then took a slip of rather liquid material, and with an
implement made for the purpose, formed all the ornaments and figures
with the hand. The slip used for this purpose was often white, which
was laid on a dark ground. “The vessels, on which are displayed a
variety of hunting subjects, representations of fishes, scrolls, and
human figures, were all glazed after the figures were laid on; where,
however, the decorations are white, the vessels were glazed before the
ornaments were added. Ornamenting with figures of animals was effected
by means of sharp and blunt skewery instruments, and a slip of suitable
consistency. These instruments seem to have been of two kinds: one
thick enough to carry sufficient slip for the nose, neck, body, and
front thigh; the other of a more delicate kind, for a thinner slip for
the tongue, lower jaws, eye, fore and hind legs, and tail. There seems
to have been no retouching after the slip trailed from the instrument.”
Of the forms of mere ornamentation of this ware, the scroll ornaments
appear to have been the most popular. The arrangement and combination
of the scrolls, which are sufficiently varied, are often both tasteful
and very effective. In the cut (fig. 216) I have selected two examples
of the most common forms of this kind of ornamentation, and others I
show on the following engravings, figs. 217, 218, and 219, and again on
figs. 213, 214, and 215.
[Illustration: Fig. 216.]
“It is, however, the figured pottery of Durobrivæ, which presents some
of the characteristics of the Samian ware, that possesses the greatest
interest for the antiquary and the historian. The variety of subjects
in the Samian ware is far greater, and they are treated in a more
elaborate and more highly finished style of art, yet similar classes
of subjects appear to have enjoyed greater popularity than others in
the Durobrivian and Samian pottery, and we can hardly help suspecting
that there was some design of imitating, or perhaps a sentiment of
rivalry. Considering that they were only executed with the hand, and
it would appear rapidly, the style of drawing is remarkably good and
spirited. But they have another and a peculiar value; when we consider
that they were certainly executed in this country, and by artists who
could hardly have done otherwise than copy what was constantly before
their eyes, we can have no doubt that these are all true pictures,
pictures which we could hardly in any other way have obtained, of
life in Britain under the Romans, and they show us, as well as could
be shown in subjects capable of being represented by such artists,
those occupations in which the enjoyment of life was then believed
to consist. The more common of these subjects are hunting scenes and
scenes taken from the amphitheatre or racecourse.” For instance, the
dog hunting the hare, given in our cut (fig. 220) taken from an example
of Durobrivian ware engraved in Artis’s plates, must be recognized at
once as a greyhound, the same variety of dog which is still used for
the same purpose. It has been suggested that this may be the dog to
which the Romans gave the name of _vertagus_, and which is said to have
been a British dog. Martial describes it in one of his epigrams as--
“Divisa Britannia mittit
Veloces, nostrique orbis venatibus aptos.”
Nemesiani _Cynegetica_, l. 123.
[Illustration: Fig. 217.]
[Illustration: Fig. 218.]
[Illustration: Fig. 219.]
[Illustration: Fig. 220.]
Other examples of hunting subjects are here given (figs. 221 to 225),
and others again will be found on a subsequent page.
[Illustration: Fig. 221.]
[Illustration: Fig. 222.]
[Illustration: Fig. 223.]
[Illustration: Fig. 224.]
The engravings fig. 223 and 224, taken from a sample of this pottery
given in one of Mr. Artis’s plates, represents the British staghound
of the Roman period chasing a stag. We have a different dog in other
examples, as in fig. 225, which is taken from a very remarkable vessel
of this ware, now known as the Colchester vase, where it appears
driving before it both stags and hares. The hunting of the boar is also
introduced in some examples of this pottery. Gladiatorial combats are
also favourite subjects on the pottery made at Durobrivæ, as on the
Samian ware, and they leave no doubt that these cruel and degrading
exhibitions were cherished by the Romans in Britain as well as in Italy.
[Illustration: Fig. 225.]
That very remarkable monument of the ceramic art in Roman Britain,
known as the “Colchester vase,” was found in 1853, in the Roman
cemetery which occupied the site of West Lodge, near Colchester. It
had been used as a sepulchral urn, and when found contained calcined
bones, and was covered with an inverted shallow vessel or dish. “The
ornamentations consist of three groups, one of which is the flight
of stags and hares pursued by a dog, given in our cut (fig. 225).
The second and, perhaps we may say, the principal group represents,
in perfectly correct drawings, the combat of the two classes of
gladiators, a _Secutor_ and a _Retiarius_, the latter of whom,
vanquished, has dropped his trident, and raises his hand to implore the
mercy of the spectators. The _Secutor_, with a close helmet over his
head, and a short sword in his hand, advances to strike the fatal blow,
unless arrested by the success of his adversary’s appeal. Over the head
of the _Retiarius_ is the inscription, VALENTINV LEGIONIS XXX., meaning
clearly, “Valentinus, of the thirtieth legion,” which was doubtless the
name of the individual here represented. A similar inscription over the
head of the _Secutor_ is read without difficulty--MEMN.N.SAC.VIIII.,
which is explained by Mr. Roach Smith, who considers the A in SAC
as an error for E, as standing for _Memnius_ (or _Memnon_) _numeri
secutorum victor ter_; _i.e._, “Memnius, or Memnon, of the number (or
band) of secutors, conqueror thrice.” There is no reason for supposing
that this inscription has any reference to the individual whose
remains were buried in the vase, but it has probably reference to some
remarkable gladiatorial combat which had created a sensation in Roman
Britain, like some one of the celebrated boxing matches of modern
times; sufficiently so to have become a popular subject of pictorial
representation.[42]
“The third group on the Colchester vase also represents a performance
which was very popular among the Romans and among Saxons, and, indeed,
throughout the Middle Ages, that of a bear-tamer and disciplined
bear. The bear, in this case, appears inclined to be rebellious, and
his keeper, whose left arm bears what appears to be a shield, and
his legs and right arm protected by bands or thongs, is menacing the
animal with a whip. An assistant is approaching, with what appear to
be two staves in his hands, for the purpose also of intimidating the
ferocious animal. Over the head of the man holding the whip are the
letters SECVNDVS MARIO, the intended application of which is not very
clear.”[43]
On another vase in the British Museum, the figures represent a
chariot-race in the Roman racecourse or stadium.
[Illustration: Fig. 226.]
[Illustration: Fig. 227.]
[Illustration: Fig. 228.]
[Illustration: Fig. 229.]
Another class of subjects of extreme interest, as coming from a
Romano-British pottery, are mythological subjects, which appear to have
been rather a favourite ornament of the Durobrivian pottery. Fragments
of several vessels, with the figures of the seven gods and goddesses,
have been met with. Another characteristic of the Durobrivian ware,
consists of indentations made in the side of the vessel, while still
soft, but after it had left the lathe, and continued with regularity
round it. Sometimes, where little ornament was employed on the rest
of the vase, these indentations were left quite plain; sometimes
an ornament was introduced in the centre; and not unfrequently the
indentation was formed into a niche for the reception of a figure. For
indented vases see figs. 226, 228, and 229.
The _Upchurch ware_, so called because made on the tract of land now
known as the Upchurch Marshes, on the river Medway below Chatham, is
next in importance, as far as extent of works go, to the Castor ware.
The district where these pot-works are proved to have existed extends
to a distance of five or six miles in length, and from one to two miles
in breadth, and throughout this tract a bed of refuse pottery exists.
This is seen to the best advantage about Otterham Creek, not far from
Upchurch church, and from its being first noticed here the name of
Upchurch ware has arisen.
“The Roman ware made in the Upchurch potteries presents distinctive
peculiarities which cannot be mistaken, and it must have been in
great repute, certainly the next after the foreign Samian and the
native Durobrivian wares, in this province of the empire. Like the
Durobrivian, too, it has been found on Roman sites in France and
Germany, so that it was probably exported. As Battely has described
it, the greater proportion of this ware is of a ‘blackish colour,’ or
rather of a bluish or greyish black, which was produced, no doubt,
by the process of the smother-kiln, already described in connection
with the Durobrivian pottery. Some of the Upchurch pottery presents
a colour approaching to dark drab. Examples of both are given. The
forms, as well as the sizes, vary greatly, but they all present those
delicate forms of the curve which we recognise at once as coming from
the hands of the Roman artist. The texture of the pottery itself is
fine, and it is very thin. The ornamentation also is varied, but not
very elaborate or very refined. One of the patterns consists of a
band of half-circles, made with compasses, from each of which a band
of parallel lines descends vertically. Examples of various kinds of
ornament are given in the accompanying woodcut (fig. 230). The little
vessel in the front of the cut has had two handles, but one is lost; it
is supposed to be an incense pot.
[Illustration: Fig. 230.]
“The instruments used in the ornamentation of this pottery appear to
have been of a very rude description, and were, as it seems, chiefly
mere sticks, some sharpened to a point, and others with a transverse
section cut into notches. The former were used in tracing the lines
already described; the latter had the section formed into a square, or
rhomboid, the surface of which was cut into parallel lines crossing
each other, so as to form a dotted figure, and this was stamped on
the surface of the pottery in various combinations and arrangements.
Sometimes these dots are arranged so as to form bands, as in the
example in the back of the group. The large urn in the middle of the
group furnishes an example of another kind of ornamentation found
on the Upchurch pottery, formed by parallel intersecting lines. In
its shape this vessel has much the appearance of a sepulchral urn.
A considerable quantity of this pottery is without ornament at all.
Among this unornamented pottery are found, especially, jug-shaped
vessels, commonly with a handle. Two of these vessels are represented
in the group, in which is also shown a curiously shaped plain urn
and an unornamented vessel of another form. At different spots over
the locality which was covered by these potteries, Mr. Roach Smith
has found remains which indicate the former existence of kilns, and
further researches will most probably bring to light some of the kilns
themselves. Traces have also been found of the residences and of the
graves of the potters.”[44]
[Illustration: Fig. 231.]
The _Romano-Salopian_ potteries--the works which produced such a large
quantity of vessels from the clay of the Severn valley, probably in
the neighbourhood of Broseley, which bed is still worked for fictile
purposes--were, there is reason to believe, much less extensive than
either of those spoken of, but yet they must, from the large quantity
of examples which have been dug up at Wroxeter, have been of some
considerable extent. Of these wares, “two sorts especially are found in
considerable abundance; the one white, the other of a rather light red
colour. The white, which is made of what is commonly called Broseley
clay, and is rather coarse in texture, consists chiefly of rather
handsomely shaped jugs of different sizes, of mortaria, and of bowls
of different shapes and sizes, which are often painted with stripes
of red and yellow. The other variety, the red Romano-Salopian ware,
is also made from one of the clays of the Severn valley, but it is of
a finer texture, and consists principally of jugs not dissimilar to
those in the white ware, except in a very different form of mouth,
and of bowl-shaped colanders.”[45] A group of vessels of the Salopian
ware is here given (fig. 232). These examples are all from Uriconium
(Wroxeter), and have been found in the cemetery there. They are
cinerary urns which have, of course, contained the ashes of the dead,
and domestic vessels which have been buried along with them.
The pottery of the New Forest bears in some respects a striking
resemblance to that from Castor. The clays there found were white and
fawn-coloured.[46] The Yorkshire productions present some peculiarities
in pattern which will be noticed later on, and those of Oxfordshire are
somewhat similar to the Castor ware. Of other pot manufactories it will
not be necessary to speak in this work.[47]
The sepulchral urns--those which were intended to receive the burnt
bones of the dead--vary much in size as well as in form, material, and
ornamentation. Many are of globular form, and of a dark bluish-grey
colour in fracture They are somewhat coarse in texture, and are thrown
on the wheel. The engraving (fig. 234) exhibits one of these vessels.
When found, it was, like the others I am about to notice, filled
with burnt bones. The engravings (figs. 235 and 236) show two urns
containing human remains, the smaller one of which, found at Little
Chester, is formed of a black clay, mixed with small pieces of broken
shells--a kind of pottery much used for sepulchral purposes. The larger
urn is of a hard and compact clay, and is beautifully “thrown” on the
wheel. These examples are entirely devoid of ornament. A good example
of this form will be seen in the centre of the group (fig. 230), but in
this instance the urn is covered with a reticulated ornament. Examples
whose forms partake a little more of the jar shape will be noticed
on fig. 232, and others are given on Fig. 233, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 6.
Fig. 237 is from Little Chester, and is formed of a fine reddish-brown
clay, and is ornamented with “slip” in an unusual manner. It measures
3½ inches only in height, and the same in diameter at the mouth. When
found, it was filled with burnt bones, among which were some small
fragments of bronze ornaments, which had evidently been burned along
with the body. The next examples (figs. 238, 242, 248, and 249), are
of a different character, both in ornamentation and in colour of clay.
[Illustration: Fig. 232.]
[Illustration: Fig. 233.]
[Illustration: Fig. 234.]
[Illustration: Fig. 235.]
[Illustration: Fig. 236.]
[Illustration: Fig. 237.]
[Illustration: Fig. 238.]
[Illustration: Fig. 239.]
[Illustration: Fig. 240.]
[Illustration: Fig. 241.]
[Illustration: Fig. 242.]
[Illustration: Fig. 243.]
[Illustration: Fig. 244.]
[Illustration: Fig. 245.]
[Illustration: Fig. 246.]
[Illustration: Fig. 247.]
[Illustration: Fig. 248.]
[Illustration: Fig. 249.]
[Illustration: Fig. 254.]
The domestic vessels, and other varieties of Roman pottery found with
interments, vary very considerably one from another, so much so,
indeed, as almost to require a detailed dissertation on the entire
fictile arts of that people. Examples of some of the different vessels
which are found are shown on figs. 243 to 266, and on figs. 230, 232,
and 233, which exhibit some of the more usual and better known forms.
Figs. 250, 252, and 253 are amphoræ, found in London, as was also the
small amphora-shaped vessel, fig. 251. Fig. 254 is a good typical
example of a mortarium, of which considerable numbers, usually in
fragments, are found wherever there has been a Roman settlement. The
next group (fig. 255) represents five examples of blackware vessels,
the ornaments on which are produced by tracing lines on the surface.
The remainder of the engravings (figs. 258 to 268) exhibit cups, bowls,
unguentaria of different forms, and various shapes of vases. They are
all characteristic examples of Romano-British ware, and will be useful
to the student in correctly appropriating any specimens which may fall
into his hands.
[Illustration: Fig. 250.]
[Illustration: Fig. 251.]
[Illustration: Fig. 252.]
[Illustration: Fig. 253.]
[Illustration: Fig. 255.]
[Illustration: Fig. 256.]
[Illustration: Fig. 257.]
[Illustration: Fig. 258.]
[Illustration: Fig. 259.]
[Illustration: Fig. 260.]
[Illustration: Fig. 261.]
[Illustration: Fig. 262.]
[Illustration: Fig. 263.]
[Illustration: Fig. 264.]
[Illustration: Fig. 265.]
[Illustration: Fig. 266.]
[Illustration: Fig. 267.]
[Illustration: Fig. 268.]