Italian Sigillata Research Articles

Eastern Sigillata at Sardis: Evidence for a Local Industry

Eastern Sigillata B was an important ceramic ware of the Early Roman East, characterized by a shiny red gloss, micaceous clay body, and, in its first phase, epigraphic stamps on the vessel floor. Production was established in the Great Meander Valley in western Asia Minor as an offshoot of the Italian sigillata industry and flourished primarily in the 1st and 2nd centuries c.e. Vessels excavated at Sardis, some 75 km to the northeast, share the micaceous clay and red gloss of Eastern Sigillata B and are visually almost identical to products of the main production center, but some bear name stamps unique to the site, suggesting that a local production center existed at Sardis. It is now possible to test this proposal through wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and, on this basis, to identify a group of local products. This article describes that process, sketches a portrait of local production, and explores the mechanism and timing of its establishment at Sardis.

The analysis of Italian Sigillata potters' stamps using Dual Energy Computed Tomography (DECT) and X-ray imaging

Dual Energy Computed Tomography (DECT) and conventional X-ray imaging are employed in this study to investigate stamped Italian Sigillata vessels excavated at the Roman site of Carsulae in Umbria, Italy. DECT and conventional X-ray imaging were chosen for this investigation because they are non-destructive techniques, and permission to examine the material was given only on the condition that the ceramics were not physically altered.The study aims to define the composition of the ceramic fabrics and seeks to identify the manufacturing practices employed by Italian Sigillata workshops.The results indicate that although the clays used by Italian Sigillata producers in northern Italy were similar in composition overall, the preparation of clay varied considerably between manufacturing centres and individual potters.Importantly, the investigation also reveals that the composition of the ceramic fabric is not always uniform throughout each vessel. This result holds significant implications for traditional ceramic studies, where samples are routinely removed from specific areas of vessels for conventional compositional analyses.

Italian Sigillata: Some Insights into a Complex Reality

Italian Sigillata: Some Insights into a Complex Reality

Distinguishing Between Rouletting and Chattering on Ancient Mediterranean Pottery

Although the various techniques used in ceramic production are obvious to those who work with clay professionally, they are not always recognized by archaeologists. A surface decoration commonly found on Greek and Roman fine wares, including Attic and Campanian Black Gloss, Thin-Walled Ware, Eastern Sigillata, Italian Sigillata, African Red Slip Ware, and Vesuvian Sigillata, is usually called rouletting, but I argue that in most cases the pattern is achieved by another technique known as chattering. Although some archaeologists are aware of the difference between the two procedures, there is ongoing confusion in the identification and use of these terms. This note discusses both decorative methods in an attempt to identify the diagnostic features that may help archaeologists differentiate between the two.

Stamps on Italian Sigillata and the Renaissance of Aptera, Crete

This study presents a group of stamps on Italian sigillata dating from the 1st to mid-2nd centuries a.d. that were discovered at Aptera, Crete. Most were discovered in systematic excavations of the city's theater; the rest were collected or found in areas associated with two cisterns and one of the baths. This study not only increases the total number of published stamps from Crete, but it also enhances our understanding of the provenience and chronological profiles of the Italian sigillata imported to the island. Comparison with stamps from other cities and sites on Crete and in the Greek East documents the island's position at the crossroads of patterns of contact and exchange.

Ceramica fine rinvenuta nella villa di San Potito (AQ)

Fine pottery from the Roman villa at San Potito di Ovindoli. The overwhelming majority of the finds published here are Central Italian Samian wares, which could belong to the tableware of the earliest villa. Plates of a Consp. 3 shape, cups of a Consp. 34 shape and plates of Consp. 20.4 were found during the excavations of the recent years. Finds dated from the earliest period from the second quarter of the 1st century to the end of the century are composed of ceramica a vernice nera and Samian wares of a Consp. 37 shape. We have found also so-called late Italian decorated sigillata.. The plain terra sigillata could be the products of yet unlocalised Central Italian workshops. Beside Italian wares, a few Northern African red slip wares (A 1) and an eastern B type Samian ware belonged to the find material of the early villa. The only La Graufesenque bowl of a Drag. 29 shape was not a commercial good: it could be a gift.Significantly fewer fine ceramics were used in the luxurious building complex of the centre of an imperial estate. The products of the declining Italian sigillata workshops were replaced by the wares of Central Tunisian workshops in the Antonine and the Severan period: African A 2, African A/D types or C 1 wares. In the same period, a few types of cooking wares could arrive with crop or other African goods from Central and Northern Tunisia.

NATURE AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF GALLIC IMITATIONS OF SIGILLATA SLIPS FROM THE LA GRAUFESENQUE WORKSHOP*

The red glaze (slip) that characterizes the Terra Sigillata potteries greatly contributed to their success during the Roman period. The colour of the slip can in fact be partially explained by the microstructure (crystalline phases, grain sizes) and the physico‐chemistry (composition) of the ceramics. However, the precise process and the diffusion of this technique are still not fully known. In particular, we do not know yet how the production of sigillata took place in the south of Gaul, and the role that was played by the production under Italian influence (pre‐sigillata) preceding the first local sigillata. In this work, a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X‐ray synchrotron diffraction techniques was used to study the microstructure of pre‐sigillata slips from the main southern Gaul workshop (La Graufesenque), in order to compare their characteristics with those of high‐quality sigillata. These first results seem to indicate that the antique potters chose clays adapted to their firing conditions and to the type of coating that they wanted to make. These productions cannot be described as an initial phase for the later sigillata production and, rather, seem to correspond to the intention of developing a specific type of pottery only inspired by the famous Italian sigillata forms.

Corpus vasorvm arretinorvm: A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of Italian Sigillata. By August Oxé and Howard Comfort.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsCorpus vasorvm arretinorvm: A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of Italian Sigillata. By August Oxé and Howard Comfort.Kathleen Warner SlaneKathleen Warner Slane Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 108, Number 2April 2004 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/AJS40025258 Copyright © 2004 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The importation of Italian sigillata to Algeria

During recent years this journal has published a complete review by Monsieur Roger Guéry of the stamps found on terra sigillata in Algeria up to the date of Algerian independence. The present article reviews the conclusions to be drawn from this material concerning the importation of 'terra sigillata from Italy. The ware has made its first appearance in Algeria by the mid-Augustan period, but the most prolific datable finds belong to the last three quarters of the first century AD. About a third of this material was manufactured at Arezzo and about a sixth of it at Pisa : other sources are also represented but many still remain unknown. The list of potters contains several new names of interest.

New Evidence for an Absolute Chronology of Decorated Late Italian Sigillata

New Evidence for an Absolute Chronology of Decorated Late Italian Sigillata

Corpus Vasorum Arretinorum. A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of Italian Sigillata. By August Oxé and Howard Comfort.

<i>Corpus Vasorum Arretinorum. A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of Italian Sigillata</i>. By August Oxé and Howard Comfort.

Corpus Vasorum Arretinorum: A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of Italian Sigillata. Compiled by August Oxé, edited by Howard Comfort. Pp. xxxi+616 + 12 plates. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 1968. Price not stated.

Corpus Vasorum Arretinorum: A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of Italian Sigillata. Compiled by August Oxé, edited by Howard Comfort. Pp. xxxi+616 + 12 plates. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 1968. Price not stated. - Volume 53 Issue 1

A Preliminary Study of Late Italian Sigillata

Previous articleNext article No AccessA Preliminary Study of Late Italian SigillataHoward ComfortHoward Comfort Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 40, Number 4October–December 1936 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/498796 Copyright © 1936 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.