Identifying Roman samian ware

Glossy red tableware with moulded scenes and potters' stamps.

Samian (terra sigillata) is the unmistakable Roman fineware: a rich glossy red-orange slip over fine pink-red fabric, mass-produced in Gaulish and other workshops from the 1st century BC to the 3rd AD. Plain forms are smooth and lathe-crisp; decorated bowls carry moulded friezes of gods, gladiators, animals, and scrolls.

Two gifts for the cataloguer: form and stamp. Vessel shapes follow numbered typologies (a footring or rim profile can identify the form), and many plain vessels carry the potter's name stamped in the base — a stamp can date a sherd to within a couple of decades.

Photograph decoration in raking light and any stamp dead-on. Record fabric colour in the break, slip quality, and estimated diameter from rim or base curvature. Even a thumbnail sherd of samian is identifiable — never discard one as 'just red pottery'.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on pottery

Identifying pottery and ceramics — Fabric, surface, and how it was formed.

Identifying terracotta figurines — Mould lines and vent holes.

Identifying amphorae and transport pottery — Shape equals cargo.

Identifying tiles and brick — Fabric, stamp, and format.

Identifying Roman coarse wares — The kitchen pottery of the empire — greywares, mortaria, and flagons.

Identifying Greek painted pottery — Black-figure, red-figure, and the glossy slip that defines them.

Home · Get the app · Guides · Museums · Privacy · Terms