Roman Samian Ware Cup

Details
These delightful little cups have been decorated "en barbotine", the design is applied using thick slip and finished with a fine red, Terra Sigillata slip.  Sherds of Samian Ware pottery have been found on sites throughout the Roman Empire. While decorated open forms, such as bowls were often made in moulds, this was not possible with closed forms such as this cup which was wheel-thrown.

Samian ware would have originally been made in Gaul, where the fine red illite clay deposits were ideal for this sort of production, before being sent out to all the corners of the Roman Empire.

Some of the sherds of Samian Ware found at Vindolanda have evidence of soldiers’ names scratched in the surface of them, suggesting that these bowls were common enough to have been owned by your average soldier but precious enough for the soldiers to want to make sure no one pinched them.  

Each cup is hand-made so might vary slightly from the on in the photograph. 

Materials

Terracotta and red slip finish

Dimensions

Approx. 120 mm high, 105 mm diameter

Production

This replica Roman pot has been hand made in Northumberland by Potted History, based on an original artefact.  It has been fired to a temperature of over 1000 Centigrade, to emulate the same techniques that the original potters would have employed nearly two thousand years ago. 

Health and Safety

As with all of our Museum quality replicas, this piece has been fired to achieve an authentic finish. Like the original, it is unglazed and has no modern finishes applied. As a result, this pot does not meet modern health and safety standards and, although decorative, I would not recommend that this pot be used for its original purpose.

Postage
All items are sent using a second class postal service, if you wish to have an item sent first class please contact me for a quote. Many Thanks