More pottery: does anyone know what this is?

[pierre_p77]

Here´s another piece of pottery that I got hold of. But what is it? Period? Origin? Is it even old?

Regards
Pierre

[Tiberiusjulius]

Probably not too old at all, just sort of an old style.

[pierre_p77]

Well, I suspected it... the guy who left it in my possession said it was samian ware, but that don´t fit. I thougt it might be something else of old age, and so it was better to ask before discarding it as recent. But I guess recent is what it is then.

Anyway, hanks for confirming.

Best
Pierre

[slokind]

It's the right color and surface for Samian ware.  That was the first label that occurred to me, but there are several of those Roman period red wares, glazed (with a very fine engobe of the same clay) in the same way as black-glazed fine ware, only fired in an oxydizing kiln rather than with final reduction.  It was done in places with very nice, elastic, fine iron-bearing clay available, some of them in Gaul.  I don't know how late some of them may be, but perhaps Late Empire, I guess.
Pat L.
See, e.g.,
http://www.terra-sigillata.org/indexA.php
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/s/a_samian_ware_bowl.aspx
As TiberiusJulius thought, it might not be hard to make new ones, if you have the right clay, but the potter would need to know that trick of making a glaze-paint from very well levigated  clay soup from the same clay beds as the body of the pot.

[pierre_p77]

Thank´s for your answer Pat! But samian ware (or Terra sigillata) was made from moulds, wasn´t it? This item is not, it seems to be handmade.

Do you then think it might be old after all?

Pierre

[slokind]

Stamps seem to be used on yours, with hand retouching.  "Samian" is an old label.  The fanciest and earliest red wares, like Arretine and some of the 1st c. AD red sigillata are figured and mould-made, primarily.  Those are the ones that get illustrated in handbooks (or else the plainest red wares, most commonly found in excavations).  The patterned ones, still with certifiable Greco-Roman origins, such as egg-and-dart or friezes of palmettes, are just what I had trouble finding.  The use of stamps in decorating relief ware goes back to at least the 7c BCE.
What is suspicious about yours is simply its nearly pristine condition and the impossibility of checking out the less visible parts of it.  Perhaps you could take a photo of the bottom?
Also, I assume it to be beaker-size, say, 12-15cm?
But it certainly is pretty.
Is the clay dense and hard?
Pat L.

[pierre_p77]

Thanks again pat! All your fantastic knowledge is very interesting! Here are a few more pictures. The "beaker" is not so big, it´s about 9 cm high and 8 cm wide at the top.

[Tiberiusjulius]

Is that a signature on the bottom?

[pierre_p77]

I can´t make out the text, it´s written in pencil. It was much clerer on the photo than in reallity. I didn´t thought of it as a signature, I thought it might be the name of a previous owner or something.

[pierre_p77]

Thanks for your reply Seth! I don´t know much about it´s history. The guy who handed it to me comes from Balcan, his familly were art collectors for several generations, or so he says. Now he owns a private museum in Sweden. I don´t know how he got hold of this piece though.

It would be very interesting if it is early sigillata. Do yoy know any pictures or other information to similar objects?

Regards

[seth]

from what i see in the pics iam almost sure its genuine. and the signature on the bottom is what made me think it comes from some old collection.
here is smth similar in style and texture to your piece:
http://www.archaeologie-krefeld.de/Bilder/Museum/Erdgeschoss/Raum%205/terra1.JPG