Romano-British Period—Pottery—Durobrivian Ware—Upchurch Ware—Salopian Ware—Pottery found at Uriconium—Potteries of the New Forest, of Yorkshire, and of other places—Sepulchral Urns—Domestic and other vessels.

The pottery of the Romano-British period, so far as relates to what is found in the grave-mounds of that people, consists, in the main, of cinerary urns, jugs (so called), paterÆ, amphorÆ, bowls, and vases of various kinds. Of the pottery alone of this period, sufficient interesting matter to fill a couple of goodly volumes might easily be written. It will, therefore, be at once understood that in a work like the present, which is simply intended to be a descriptive sketch of the contents of grave-mounds, elaborate accounts of the different kinds of ware made by that people, and of the modes of manufacture which they adopted, would be unnecessary. The principal divisions are the Samian ware, the Durobrivian ware, the pottery of the Upchurch marshes, the Hampshire ware, the Salopian ware, and the Yorkshire wares, and to these divisions I shall devote some few pages, and in so doing express thanks to my friend, Mr. Thomas Wright, for some excellent articles41 on the Durobrivian, the Upchurch, and the Samian wares, which he has written. Before proceeding to speak of the different vessels found with interments, it will be well to glance at these different wares and their characteristics.

The Durobrivian or Castor ware, as it is variously called, is the production of the extensive Romano-British potteries on the river Nen in Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, which, with settlements, are computed to have covered a district of some twenty square miles in extent. The discovery of this pottery and of the kilns in which its productions were fired, etc.—one of which is engraved on fig. 212—is due to the late Mr. Artis, who prosecuted his examination of the locality with great perseverance and skill. There are several varieties of this Durobrivian ware, and two especially have been remarked; the first, blue or slate-coloured, the other reddish-brown or of a dark copper colour. The former was coloured by a simple though curious process, which Mr. Artis was enabled to investigate in a very satisfactory manner. It will, perhaps, be best told in his own words. “During an examination of the pigments used by the Roman potters of this place,” he says, “I was led to the conclusion that the blue and slate-coloured vessels met with here in such abundance, were coloured by suffocating the fire of the kiln at the time when its contents had acquired a degree of heat sufficient to ensure uniformity of colour. I had so firmly made up my mind upon the process of manufacturing and firing this peculiar kind of earthenware, that for some time previous to the recent discovery [in 1844] I had denominated the kilns in which it had been fired smother kilns. The mode of manufacturing the bricks of which these kilns are made is worthy of notice. The clay was previously mixed with about one-third of rye in the chaff, which, being consumed by the fire, left cavities in the room of the grains. This might have been intended to modify expansion and contraction, as well as to assist the gradual distribution of the colouring vapour. The mouth of the furnace and top of the kiln were, no doubt, stopped; thus we find every part of the kiln, from the inside wall to the earth on the outside, and every part of the clay wrappers of the dome, penetrated with the colouring exhalation. As further proof that the colouring of the ware was imparted by firing, I collected the clays of the neighbourhood, including specimens from the immediate vicinity of the smother kilns. In colour some of these clays resembled the ware after firing, and some were darker. I submitted them to a process similar to that I have described. The clays dug near the kilns whitened in firing, probably from being bituminous. I also put some fragments of the blue pottery into the kiln; they came out precisely of the same colour as the clay fired with them, which had been taken from the side of the kilns. The experiment proved to me that the colour could not be attributed to any metallic oxide, either existing in the clay or applied externally; and this conclusion is confirmed by the appearance of the clay wrappers of the dome of the kiln. It should be remarked, that this colour is so volatile that it is expelled by a second firing in an open kiln.” Fortunately, some of the kilns remained almost entire, and many had been left with the pottery partly packed in them for firing, so that there was no difficulty in understanding the nature of the process here employed by the Roman potters.

This Durobrivian pottery is especially interesting, from its being covered with ornaments and figures, in relief, like those on the Samian ware, but not like it cast from moulds. “The vessel,” Mr. Artis remarks, “after being thrown upon the wheel, would be allowed to become somewhat firm, but only sufficiently so for the purpose of the lathe. In the indented ware, the indenting would have to be performed with the vessel in as pliable a state as it could be taken from the lathe.” The ornamenter then took a slip of rather liquid material, and with an implement made for the purpose, formed all the ornaments and figures with the hand. The slip used for this purpose was often white, which was laid on a dark ground. “The vessels, on which are displayed a variety of hunting subjects, representations of fishes, scrolls, and human figures, were all glazed after the figures were laid on; where, however, the decorations are white, the vessels were glazed before the ornaments were added. Ornamenting with figures of animals was effected by means of sharp and blunt skewery instruments, and a slip of suitable consistency. These instruments seem to have been of two kinds: one thick enough to carry sufficient slip for the nose, neck, body, and front thigh; the other of a more delicate kind, for a thinner slip for the tongue, lower jaws, eye, fore and hind legs, and tail. There seems to have been no retouching after the slip trailed from the instrument.”

Of the forms of mere ornamentation of this ware, the scroll ornaments appear to have been the most popular. The arrangement and combination of the scrolls, which are sufficiently varied, are often both tasteful and very effective. In the cut (fig. 216) I have selected two examples of the most common forms of this kind of ornamentation, and others I show on the following engravings, figs. 217, 218, and 219, and again on figs. 213, 214, and 215.

“It is, however, the figured pottery of DurobrivÆ, which presents some of the characteristics of the Samian ware, that possesses the greatest interest for the antiquary and the historian. The variety of subjects in the Samian ware is far greater, and they are treated in a more elaborate and more highly finished style of art, yet similar classes of subjects appear to have enjoyed greater popularity than others in the Durobrivian and Samian pottery, and we can hardly help suspecting that there was some design of imitating, or perhaps a sentiment of rivalry. Considering that they were only executed with the hand, and it would appear rapidly, the style of drawing is remarkably good and spirited. But they have another and a peculiar value; when we consider that they were certainly executed in this country, and by artists who could hardly have done otherwise than copy what was constantly before their eyes, we can have no doubt that these are all true pictures, pictures which we could hardly in any other way have obtained, of life in Britain under the Romans, and they show us, as well as could be shown in subjects capable of being represented by such artists, those occupations in which the enjoyment of life was then believed to consist. The more common of these subjects are hunting scenes and scenes taken from the amphitheatre or racecourse.” For instance, the dog hunting the hare, given in our cut (fig. 220) taken from an example of Durobrivian ware engraved in Artis’s plates, must be recognized at once as a greyhound, the same variety of dog which is still used for the same purpose. It has been suggested that this may be the dog to which the Romans gave the name of vertagus, and which is said to have been a British dog. Martial describes it in one of his epigrams as—

Other examples of hunting subjects are here given (figs. 221 to 225), and others again will be found on a subsequent page.

The engravings fig. 223 and 224, taken from a sample of this pottery given in one of Mr. Artis’s plates, represents the British staghound of the Roman period chasing a stag. We have a different dog in other examples, as in fig. 225, which is taken from a very remarkable vessel of this ware, now known as the Colchester vase, where it appears driving before it both stags and hares. The hunting of the boar is also introduced in some examples of this pottery. Gladiatorial combats are also favourite subjects on the pottery made at DurobrivÆ, as on the Samian ware, and they leave no doubt that these cruel and degrading exhibitions were cherished by the Romans in Britain as well as in Italy.

That very remarkable monument of the ceramic art in Roman Britain, known as the “Colchester vase,” was found in 1853, in the Roman cemetery which occupied the site of West Lodge, near Colchester. It had been used as a sepulchral urn, and when found contained calcined bones, and was covered with an inverted shallow vessel or dish. “The ornamentations consist of three groups, one of which is the flight of stags and hares pursued by a dog, given in our cut (fig. 225). The second and, perhaps we may say, the principal group represents, in perfectly correct drawings, the combat of the two classes of gladiators, a Secutor and a Retiarius, the latter of whom, vanquished, has dropped his trident, and raises his hand to implore the mercy of the spectators. The Secutor, with a close helmet over his head, and a short sword in his hand, advances to strike the fatal blow, unless arrested by the success of his adversary’s appeal. Over the head of the Retiarius is the inscription, VALENTINV LEGIONIS XXX., meaning clearly, “Valentinus, of the thirtieth legion,” which was doubtless the name of the individual here represented. A similar inscription over the head of the Secutor is read without difficulty—MEMN.N.SAC.VIIII., which is explained by Mr. Roach Smith, who considers the A in SAC as an error for E, as standing for Memnius (or Memnon) numeri secutorum victor ter; i.e., “Memnius, or Memnon, of the number (or band) of secutors, conqueror thrice.” There is no reason for supposing that this inscription has any reference to the individual whose remains were buried in the vase, but it has probably reference to some remarkable gladiatorial combat which had created a sensation in Roman Britain, like some one of the celebrated boxing matches of modern times; sufficiently so to have become a popular subject of pictorial representation.42

“The third group on the Colchester vase also represents a performance which was very popular among the Romans and among Saxons, and, indeed, throughout the Middle Ages, that of a bear-tamer and disciplined bear. The bear, in this case, appears inclined to be rebellious, and his keeper, whose left arm bears what appears to be a shield, and his legs and right arm protected by bands or thongs, is menacing the animal with a whip. An assistant is approaching, with what appear to be two staves in his hands, for the purpose also of intimidating the ferocious animal. Over the head of the man holding the whip are the letters SECVNDVS MARIO, the intended application of which is not very clear.”43

On another vase in the British Museum, the figures represent a chariot-race in the Roman racecourse or stadium.

Another class of subjects of extreme interest, as coming from a Romano-British pottery, are mythological subjects, which appear to have been rather a favourite ornament of the Durobrivian pottery. Fragments of several vessels, with the figures of the seven gods and goddesses, have been met with. Another characteristic of the Durobrivian ware, consists of indentations made in the side of the vessel, while still soft, but after it had left the lathe, and continued with regularity round it. Sometimes, where little ornament was employed on the rest of the vase, these indentations were left quite plain; sometimes an ornament was introduced in the centre; and not unfrequently the indentation was formed into a niche for the reception of a figure. For indented vases see figs. 226, 228, and 229.

The Upchurch ware, so called because made on the tract of land now known as the Upchurch Marshes, on the river Medway below Chatham, is next in importance, as far as extent of works go, to the Castor ware. The district where these pot-works are proved to have existed extends to a distance of five or six miles in length, and from one to two miles in breadth, and throughout this tract a bed of refuse pottery exists. This is seen to the best advantage about Otterham Creek, not far from Upchurch church, and from its being first noticed here the name of Upchurch ware has arisen.

“The Roman ware made in the Upchurch potteries presents distinctive peculiarities which cannot be mistaken, and it must have been in great repute, certainly the next after the foreign Samian and the native Durobrivian wares, in this province of the empire. Like the Durobrivian, too, it has been found on Roman sites in France and Germany, so that it was probably exported. As Battely has described it, the greater proportion of this ware is of a ‘blackish colour,’ or rather of a bluish or greyish black, which was produced, no doubt, by the process of the smother-kiln, already described in connection with the Durobrivian pottery. Some of the Upchurch pottery presents a colour approaching to dark drab. Examples of both are given. The forms, as well as the sizes, vary greatly, but they all present those delicate forms of the curve which we recognise at once as coming from the hands of the Roman artist. The texture of the pottery itself is fine, and it is very thin. The ornamentation also is varied, but not very elaborate or very refined. One of the patterns consists of a band of half-circles, made with compasses, from each of which a band of parallel lines descends vertically. Examples of various kinds of ornament are given in the accompanying woodcut (fig. 230). The little vessel in the front of the cut has had two handles, but one is lost; it is supposed to be an incense pot.

“The instruments used in the ornamentation of this pottery appear to have been of a very rude description, and were, as it seems, chiefly mere sticks, some sharpened to a point, and others with a transverse section cut into notches. The former were used in tracing the lines already described; the latter had the section formed into a square, or rhomboid, the surface of which was cut into parallel lines crossing each other, so as to form a dotted figure, and this was stamped on the surface of the pottery in various combinations and arrangements. Sometimes these dots are arranged so as to form bands, as in the example in the back of the group. The large urn in the middle of the group furnishes an example of another kind of ornamentation found on the Upchurch pottery, formed by parallel intersecting lines. In its shape this vessel has much the appearance of a sepulchral urn. A considerable quantity of this pottery is without ornament at all. Among this unornamented pottery are found, especially, jug-shaped vessels, commonly with a handle. Two of these vessels are represented in the group, in which is also shown a curiously shaped plain urn and an unornamented vessel of another form. At different spots over the locality which was covered by these potteries, Mr. Roach Smith has found remains which indicate the former existence of kilns, and further researches will most probably bring to light some of the kilns themselves. Traces have also been found of the residences and of the graves of the potters.”44

The Romano-Salopian potteries—the works which produced such a large quantity of vessels from the clay of the Severn valley, probably in the neighbourhood of Broseley, which bed is still worked for fictile purposes—were, there is reason to believe, much less extensive than either of those spoken of, but yet they must, from the large quantity of examples which have been dug up at Wroxeter, have been of some considerable extent. Of these wares, “two sorts especially are found in considerable abundance; the one white, the other of a rather light red colour. The white, which is made of what is commonly called Broseley clay, and is rather coarse in texture, consists chiefly of rather handsomely shaped jugs of different sizes, of mortaria, and of bowls of different shapes and sizes, which are often painted with stripes of red and yellow. The other variety, the red Romano-Salopian ware, is also made from one of the clays of the Severn valley, but it is of a finer texture, and consists principally of jugs not dissimilar to those in the white ware, except in a very different form of mouth, and of bowl-shaped colanders.”45 A group of vessels of the Salopian ware is here given (fig. 232). These examples are all from Uriconium (Wroxeter), and have been found in the cemetery there. They are cinerary urns which have, of course, contained the ashes of the dead, and domestic vessels which have been buried along with them.

The pottery of the New Forest bears in some respects a striking resemblance to that from Castor. The clays there found were white and fawn-coloured.46 The Yorkshire productions present some peculiarities in pattern which will be noticed later on, and those of Oxfordshire are somewhat similar to the Castor ware. Of other pot manufactories it will not be necessary to speak in this work.47

The sepulchral urns—those which were intended to receive the burnt bones of the dead—vary much in size as well as in form, material, and ornamentation. Many are of globular form, and of a dark bluish-grey colour in fracture They are somewhat coarse in texture, and are thrown on the wheel. The engraving (fig. 234) exhibits one of these vessels. When found, it was, like the others I am about to notice, filled with burnt bones. The engravings (figs. 235 and 236) show two urns containing human remains, the smaller one of which, found at Little Chester, is formed of a black clay, mixed with small pieces of broken shells—a kind of pottery much used for sepulchral purposes. The larger urn is of a hard and compact clay, and is beautifully “thrown” on the wheel. These examples are entirely devoid of ornament. A good example of this form will be seen in the centre of the group (fig. 230), but in this instance the urn is covered with a reticulated ornament. Examples whose forms partake a little more of the jar shape will be noticed on fig. 232, and others are given on Fig. 233, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 6. Fig. 237 is from Little Chester, and is formed of a fine reddish-brown clay, and is ornamented with “slip” in an unusual manner. It measures 3½ inches only in height, and the same in diameter at the mouth. When found, it was filled with burnt bones, among which were some small fragments of bronze ornaments, which had evidently been burned along with the body. The next examples (figs. 238, 242, 248, and 249), are of a different character, both in ornamentation and in colour of clay.

The domestic vessels, and other varieties of Roman pottery found with interments, vary very considerably one from another, so much so, indeed, as almost to require a detailed dissertation on the entire fictile arts of that people. Examples of some of the different vessels which are found are shown on figs. 243 to 266, and on figs. 230, 232, and 233, which exhibit some of the more usual and better known forms. Figs. 250, 252, and 253 are amphorÆ, found in London, as was also the small amphora-shaped vessel, fig. 251. Fig. 254 is a good typical example of a mortarium, of which considerable numbers, usually in fragments, are found wherever there has been a Roman settlement. The next group (fig. 255) represents five examples of blackware vessels, the ornaments on which are produced by tracing lines on the surface. The remainder of the engravings (figs. 258 to 268) exhibit cups, bowls, unguentaria of different forms, and various shapes of vases. They are all characteristic examples of Romano-British ware, and will be useful to the student in correctly appropriating any specimens which may fall into his hands.