potsherd - Roman pottery - Colchester terra sigillata

Class : Terra Sigillata
Source : Britain
Distribution in Britain

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Distribution summary

Roman Pottery in Britain (Tyers 1996)
This ware is discussed on p.114-116 of Roman Pottery in Britain (1996). Fabric code : COTS
National Roman Fabric Reference Collection (Tomber & Dore 1998)
Cross-reference from this group to fabric descriptions published in The National Roman Fabric Reference Collection (1998): COL SA Colchester samian p.133 Illustrations of these fabrics are available only in the printed catalogue: R. Tomber & J. Dore, The national Roman fabric reference collection. A handbook Museum of London Archaeology Service, London. MOLAS monograph 2. (1998).
The Pottery kilns of Roman Britain (Swan 1984)
This fabric was produced at kiln sites at these locations: Colchester / Essex Display more details of these sites. Data summarized from V. G. Swan The pottery kilns of Roman Britain (HMSO, London, 1984, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments: Supplementary Series 5).

Summary

Terra sigillata manufactured at Colchester (Essex/GB) during mid-late 2nd century AD, with limited distribution in eastern England. Some of the potters working at Colchester had earlier operated at East Gaulish factories such as Sinzig and Trier (DE).

Database of sigillata forms

A searchable database of the principal sigillata forms is available here.

Introduction

M. R. Hull, in his final report on the Colchester samian kilns, recognised the difficulties in distinguishing the local products from imported material in the vicinity of the kilns. Subsequent analyses of the material have confirmed these problems and the precise extent of the samian production at Colchester remains unclear.

Fabric and technology

At its best, Colchester sigillata fabric is indistinguishable from East Gaulish products; generally red-brown core with a good brown or yellow-brown slip; fine-textured matrix with occasional larger white (chalk?) inclusions.

Decorated wares

Hull distinguished three decorative styles in fragments and moulds from the area of the kiln, referred to as Potters A, B and C. A and B are represented by both moulds and decorated fragments and are undoubtedly Colchester products. Potter C is represented by decorated sherds only (no moulds), and is unlikely to be a Colchester product; it is most probably from the workshops at Sinzig. A further rare style, tentatively identified by Hull as Potter D, is also likely to be from an East Gaulish workshop, perhaps Trier (Simpson 1982).

Forms

Allowing for the difficulties in identification, the production seems to cover the full range of contemporary East Gaulish sigillata shapes: Drag. 30, 37, 18/31 (common), 27, 31, 32, 33 (common), 35/36, 38, 40, 44, 45; Curle 15, 21; Walters 79-81; Lud. Sb, Ty, Tq.

Stamps

Hull's original list of probable/possible Colchester potters has been whittled down (using kiln site evidence and chemical analysis) to a more restricted workforce:


Potter	Comment

ACCEPTUS ii	Stamped COLC & COMO
AMANDINUS
CINTUGNATUS
CUNOPECTUS	Stamped COLC & COMO	C
GABRUS ii		C
LATINUS iii		S
LIPUCA	<- Sinzig <- La Madeleine?	S
T. LITTERA
LITUGENUS iv	Stamped COMO (?)	C
MATUACUS
MICCIO vii	<- Sinzig	S
MINUSO ii	<- (Sinzig?) <- Trier	C
REGU ..
SENILIS iv		C

Table 1. Colchester sigillata potters
Results of chemical analysis: S = Sinzig, C = Colchester

Acceptus and Cunopectus are certainly Colchester potters -- their stamps are also found on local mortaria and colour-coated wares. The potters Lipuca, Miccio and Minuso are thought to have worked in the workshops at Sinzig, Trier and elsewhere, before their move to Colchester. However, the chemical analyses reported by Storey et al. (1989) suggest that some sherds from Colchester stamped by Latinus, Lipuca and Miccio should be classed as Sinzig products rather than Colchester (these are marked S in the table above -- vessels stamped by potters marked C were confirmed as Colchester products). It is evident that the precise careers of some of these individuals is not yet fully understood.

Chronology

c. AD 155-180.

Source

Colchester kiln 21.

Distribution

Rare at Colchester; otherwise restricted to East Anglia, but rarely more than a few sherds on a site (distribution in Rodwell 1982), with an outlier at Newstead (but see Bird in Green 1977, 60). Some identifications may need reassessment in the light of furthur analysis.

Aliases

Colchester fabric CO. JRPS bibliography fabric cls.

Bibliography

Hull 1963, 43-90; for the kiln structure and its affinities: RCHM gazetteer 92-4, F280; on Potter C and the Sinzig connection: Simpson 1982; Storey et al. 1989. Rodwell (1982) suggests that the Potter C bowls may be products of Colchester, but made in moulds imported from Sinzig, rather than imports themselves. On the wanderings of the plain-ware potters: Hartley 1977. The inter-connections and dating of the East Gaulish workshops where some Colchester potters originated are summarised by Huld-Zetsche (in Bémont and Jacob 1986).

References

Bémont and Jacob 1986.
Bémont, C. and Jacob, J.-P., La Terre sigillée gallo-romaine. Lieux de production du Haut Empire: implantations, produits, relations, Documents d'archéologie française, 6, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris, (1986).
Green 1977.
Green, C., Excavations in the Roman kiln field at Brampton, EAA, 5, (1977).
Hartley 1977.
Hartley, B. R., 'Some wandering potters' in Roman pottery studies in Britain and beyond Papers presented to J. P. Gillam, July 1977, ed. J. Dore and K. T. Greene, British archaeological reports. International series, 30, BAR, Oxford, (1977), pp. 251-62.
Hull 1963.
Hull, M. R., The Roman potters' kilns of Colchester, Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 21, Society of Antiquaries and the Corporation of the Borough of Colchester, Oxford, (1963).
Rodwell 1982.
Rodwell, W. J., 'The production and distribution of pottery and tiles in the territory of the Trinovantes', EssexAH, 14, (1982), pp. 15-76.
Simpson 1982.
Simpson, G., 'A revised dating for the Colchester samian kiln', EssexAH, 14, (1982), pp. 149-53.
Storey et al. 1989.
Storey, J. M. V., Symonds, R. P., Hart, F. A., Smith, D. M. and Walsh, J. N., 'A chemical investigation of Colchester samian by means of inductively-coupled plasma emission spectrometry', JRPS, 2, (1989), pp. 33-43.

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