Name/Title
Pottery / bowl / sherdEntry/Object ID
X.FRA 1317Description
Samian sherd ornamented with a mask of Pan, 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 ADLexicon
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.15.79Provenance
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.
82. PIT XLIX. Fragment of bowl (Dragendorff 37). Lower portion of panels. (1)
Feet of a personage, probably Vulcan. (2) Mask of Pan, facing to left (Déchelette
675). (3) Beneath a ring, letters, doubtless the end of the stamp CINNAMI, impressed
retrograde. (Page 223, Fig. 3.)Notes
For further information on Samian Ware