Samian pottery (or Terra sigillata) was imported fine tableware with distinctive brick red colour and very smooth burnished surface. Samian ware was originally produced in northern Tuscany in the 1st century BC, with production expanding to other areas of Italy and France and Spain. Pre-conquest imports were arriving in Britain and would have been prestigious items. Latterly the main source of Samian ware was Gaul during the 1st to 3rd centuries. Some Samian was even produced in small potteries in SE England but was poorer quality. This sherd appears to be from a bowl or mortaria.
Found at Brislington Roman villa site during the development of what is now Winchester Road in December 1899. The villa is contemporary with several others in the region, built about AD 270 as a working farm with workshops until destroyed by fire about AD 370.
Photographs exhibited with kind permission of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, which has this in its collection (reference number Fb6951).
Material: ceramic
Period: Romano-British
Find spot: Winchester Road, Brislington. ST 616709
Exhibit contributed by Bristol Museum and Art Gallery