Name/Title
Pottery / bowl / sherdEntry/Object ID
X.FRA 1300Description
Samian ware sherd ornamented with a figure of Perseus (right arm uplifted, head to right, left hand carries a sword). 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
Food Preparation & Storage
Made/Created
Time Period
1st - 2nd Century ADEthnography
Cultural Region
Continent
Europe* Untyped Cultural Region
GaulLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
PotteryNomenclature Secondary Object Term
SherdNomenclature 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 ware, sherdsOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Previous Accession NumberOther Number
V.15.62Relationships
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
A Roman Frontier Post and its People (Page 217, Fig. 10)
'Fragment of a bowl (Dragendorff 37). Egg and tassel moulding. The decoration is
in panels. Figure of Perseus (Déchelette 146), the right arm uplifted, the head facing to
right. In his left hand, which he holds against his thigh, he carries a short sword, from
which hangs the end of some floating drapery. The figure appears upon the bowls of
Cinnamus, as does also the reel ornament in the adjoining panel (Déchelette 1111). See
Knorr, Rottweil Taf. xx. 4 and 15. Lezoux.'Research Type
ReferenceNotes
For further information on Samian Ware