Name/Title
Pottery / bowl / fragmentEntry/Object ID
X.FRA 1304Description
Fragment of a bowl of Samian ware, decorated with the head and foreleg of a bear, part of a pygmy warrior and the letters 'MI', from the Roman site at Newstead (Trimontium)Use
Pottery was used for a variety of purposes such as but not limited to: to store food and liquids, cook with, eat/drink from, decoration, and to hold cosmetics.Context
Samian ware (or 'terra sigillata') pottery was imported in to Romano-Britain from Gaul, generally. It was produced on an industrial scale and exported across the Roman empire, where it was favoured for its use as a fine tableware.
Samian ware comes in a range of glossy red finishes (or sometimes black). They could be plain, but were often decorated with typical Graeco-Roman patterns and figures, such as egg-and-darts, flora or fauna, or scenes from myth.
The Trimontium site has a large collection of Samian ware, but also shows evidence of the fort making its own pottery (known as coarse-ware).Collection
National Museums Scotland, James CurleCategory
Samian ware, Pottery, Bowl, Fragment
Food Preparation & Storage
Made/Created
Time Period
1st - 2nd Century ADLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
PotteryNomenclature Primary Object Term
FactoryNomenclature Primary Object Term
FragmentNomenclature Sub-Class
Industrial StructuresNomenclature Class
StructuresNomenclature Category
Category 01: Built Environment ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 10: Unclassifiable ObjectsGetty AAT
Concept
bowls (vessels), Samian wareOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Previous Accession NumberOther Number
V.15.66Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
James CurleNotes
ExcavatorRelated Places
Place
Location
Trimontium Roman Fort Site, NewsteadCountry
Scotland* Untyped Place
United KingdomNotes
Excavation SiteProvenance
Provenance Detail
1905 - 1911 ExcavationsAcquisition Method
FoundNotes
James CurleResearch Notes
Research Type
ReferencePerson
James CurleNotes
Curle, James, and Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. A Roman Frontier Post and Its People : The Fort of Newstead in the Parish of Melrose. (Page 217, Fig. 15)
'69. Small fragment of lower portion of a bowl (Dragendorff 37). The head and fore
leg of a bear and part of a pigmy warrior are visible as well as the letters MI, part of
the stamp CINNAMI, impressed retrograde, as is common with this potter. Lezoux.
(Page 217, Fig. 15.)'