Samian ware is a kind of bright red Roman pottery also known as terra sigillata. It is similar to the earlier Arretine ware and both types are attempts to copy more expensive metal originals. Because of this they display skeuomorphic characteristics. It was first made during the first century AD and production ceased around the mid third century. Jump to: navigation, search Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... Jump to: navigation, search Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... Jump to: navigation, search Arretine ware (also Arezzo ware and, incorrectly, Arrentine ware) is a type of fine Roman pottery coated in a red slip dating to the first centuries AD and BC. It originated in Arretium, the modern day town of Arezzo in Tuscany. ... Skeuomorph is a term used in the history of design and also in other fields including archaeology. ...

Samian has nothing to do with the island of Samos but was once thought to have originated there, and the name has stuck, at least in British usage. It may also be derived from the Latin verb samiare, to polish. It can be identified from its pinkish or orange fabric and a distinctive smooth red surface created by dipping the unfired pot in slip before putting it in the kiln. It was produced in industrial quantities and archaeological evidence implies that it was still in heavy demand as examples showing signs of repair as well as shoddy imitation pseudo-Samian types have been excavated. Samos (Greek Σαμος; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an island in southeastern Greece in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Turkey. ... In telecommunications, a slip is a positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols. ...

Famous production centres included La Graufesenque, Les Martres-de-Veyre and Lezoux in central Gaul and Rheinzabern in modern Germany. In order to cope with demand several attempts were made to produce Samian in Britain, at Colchester and in Northamptonshire and Sussex. Due to inferior clays and less competent potters however, the ventures soon failed. Many vessels were stamped by their makers and thus their distribution can be traced across Europe. Jump to: navigation, search La Graufesenque is an archaological site 2km from Millau, Aveyron, France at the junction of the Tarn and Dourbie rivers. ... Jump to: navigation, search Rheinzabern Rheinzabern is a rather small town in the south-east of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany near River Rhine. ... Colchester town centre Colchester is an historic town in the north of the English county of Essex, with a population of about 160,000. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ... Sussex is a traditional county in southern England, divided for administrative purposes into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. ...

Decorated Samian could be created by adding designs in barbotine, applique or through rouletted or incised methods. More commonly, the decorated vessels were created from moulds. Hunts for wild animals were a popular theme. Applique (or appliqué) is a technique in which pieces of fabric are sewn onto a foundation piece of fabric to create designs. ...

As it is easily identified and datable, Samian has been long studied by archaeologists. The first attempt to classify it was in 1896 by Hans Dragendorff. Hans Dragendorff (15 October 1870 in Dorpat (Tartu), Estonia - 12 September 1941 in Freiburg, Germany) was a German scholar who introduced the first classification system for Roman Samian ware, or Terra Sigillata, in 1896, using type numbers. ...

There is a also a rare black variety known as Black Samian.

External link

• Roman pottery database