In Holland and Belgium finds of terra sigillata and potters’ stamps are recorded from various sites, such as Arentsburg, Rossem, Rousse, near Oudenarde, Voorburg, between Utrecht and Leyden, and Wyk-by-Durstede, and also at Utrecht.[[3581]] At Vechten near Utrecht, the ancient Fictio on the road from Lugdunum (Leiden) to Noviomagus (Nimeguen) finds were made in 1868 which confirm the activity of the Rutenian potters in the first century.[[3582]] These discoveries included coins extending from the Republican period down to Trajan, and terra sigillata of the Graufesenque type, with many names of potters belonging to that region.
In Spain finds have been made on various sites, and there are numerous examples in the museum at Tarragona[[3583]]; at Murviedro, the site of the ancient Saguntum, which, as we have seen, is mentioned by Pliny and Martial as an important centre, various kinds of Roman ware have come to light, some with potters’ stamps, but no evidence remains of potteries or of any local manufacture.
In Britain—at least in England—finds of Roman pottery have been so plentiful and so universal that it is difficult to select typical centres for discussion. It must also be borne in mind that, with the exception of the plain wares and a few other fabrics, such as the Castor ware, we have not to deal with local manufactures. A certain quantity of terra sigillata may have been imported from Germany (e.g. from Westerndorf),[[3584]] but by far the greater proportion is from Gaul, as is shown by the potters’ names.
We propose in the first place to review briefly the types of terra sigillata which occur in Britain.[[3585]] The bowls of forms 29 and 30, which are found in Germany in the first century, do not occur on the Roman Wall, and we have already seen that they are not later than Hadrian’s time; but they are common in the South of Britain, as at London and Colchester. Roach-Smith[[3586]] and other earlier writers have published specimens of these older forms decorated with figures which have been found in London, Bath, York, Caerleon,[[3587]] and elsewhere. The earliest dateable examples of form 37 have been found with coins of Nerva at Churchover in Warwickshire[[3588]]; this type is indeed common all over Britain, and is one of the few varieties of terra sigillata occurring in the North. It is found at South Shields, along the Roman Wall, and in Scotland at Birrens in Dumfriesshire.[[3589]] Pottery of the second century is represented by a variety of the same form, with a moulded ridge breaking the outline in the middle[[3590]]; this would seem to be a type which also occurs in Germany during the second and third centuries. Mr. Haverfield states that this form is found at South Shields and in Yorkshire, and is imitated at Silchester. Of the principal subjects on these we have already given some description (p. [508]). Finally, there is the wide shallow type, approximating to the mortar or pelvis, the upper part of which forms externally a flat, vertical band, projecting beyond and forming a tangent with the general curve of the bowl; this is usually ornamented with lions’ heads in relief. This variety is not earlier than the second century, and is also found in the third; we have already seen that it was made at Lezoux.[[3591]]
It is important to note that all the places mentioned as yielding bowls of forms 29 and 30 were occupied at least as early as A.D. 85, perhaps as early as A.D. 50. But the style of these bowls may have lasted longer; at all events, the varieties are so numerous as to show a development for which some time is required. There is also a distinct development in the plain band round the upper edge of the bowl, which, at first a mere beading, becomes broader and more vertical by degrees. It may, however, be assumed that, as none are found north of York, it disappeared from Britain, as from Gaul and Germany, before A.D. 100.
The ware formerly known as “false Samian” (Dragendorff’s hellroth)[[3592]] appears in several varieties. The light red or orange colour is produced by a kind of slip of pounded pottery laid over the surface. Vases of this type, glazed within and without with a thin reddish-brown and somewhat lustrous glaze, occur in London, and a good specimen was found many years ago at Oundle in Northants, but has since disappeared.[[3593]] It was a fine vase, of light-red clay with red-brown glaze, resembling the Gaulish terra sigillata, and had some claim to artistic merit. The subject was Pan holding up a mask, and three draped figures, and it bore the stamp of the Gaulish potter Libertus (OF · LIBERTI), who, as we have seen, worked at Lezoux.[[3594]] This ware is often coarse, and ornamented externally with rude white scrolls painted in opaque colour,[[3595]] and there is a variety found at Castor, of red glazed ware with a metalloid lustre, the clay itself varying from white to yellowish-brown or orange.[[3596]] Both shapes and ornaments resemble those of the Castor black ware (see below), and it seems likely that this is actually a local fabric, the difference in colouring being due to the degree of heat employed in the firing.
The number of potters’ names found on these wares in Britain is very large, those in the seventh volume of the Latin Corpus amounting to about 1,500.[[3597]] This list, published in 1873, of course superseded all those previously drawn up by the Hon. R. C. Neville, by Roach-Smith, and by Thomas Wright.[[3598]] Roach-Smith, however, performed a useful service in tabulating the list of names found in London along with those from Douai and other sites in France,[[3599]] which went far to prove the Gaulish origin of the British terra sigillata. It is not, therefore, necessary to discuss the potters’ names found in Britain in further detail.[[3600]] Besides the potters’ stamps, incised inscriptions sometimes occur on the pottery, giving the owner’s name or other items of information (see above, p. [512]).
To give a detailed account of all the sites in Britain on which Roman pottery has been found would be a task entailing more labour and occupying more space than the results would justify. Not only do the sites cover almost the whole of the country from the Roman Wall to the Isle of Wight, and from Exeter to Norfolk, but the disinterring of the material from miscellaneous and often unscientific records, or from scattered and uncatalogued collections, would be a truly gigantic achievement. It should, however, be achieved; but this will only be by co-operation, each county performing its share of the work, as has been done in a few cases. The Society of Antiquaries has issued archaeological surveys of certain counties,[[3601]] which without entering into details tabulate the sites of Roman remains; and it is to be hoped that forthcoming volumes of the Victoria County History will do for other counties what those already published have done for Hampshire, Norfolk, Northants, etc. The most representative collections are those of the British Museum and the Guildhall in London, and of the provincial museums at Colchester, Reading, York, and elsewhere.
We now turn to the consideration of the local products of Romano-British potters. Exclusive of the plain unornamented wares which were made in many places, as the numerous remains of kilns show (cf. p. 454), there are only three distinct fabrics to be mentioned. In all of these the ware is black, with or without a glaze, but the style of ornamentation varies.