Roman Samian Ware. 



233 



broken from it. .An example of this is given in our cut, Fig. 4, 

 representing a fragment found in London, and preserved in 

 the collection of Mr. Roach Smith, 'which (now transferred to 

 the British Museum) contains several fine fragments of this 

 peculiar variety of the Samian ware. It will be seen that 

 here the head above and one leg below, have become detached 

 from the pottery when it broke, the former remaining without 

 any fracture. Examples of this pottery are very rare, both in 

 France and England, from which circumstance Mr. Roach 

 Smith thinks that it was not made in these provinces, but that 

 it was imported from Italy, perhaps from Arretium. 



The forms of the vessels of Samian ware, and of the 

 ornaments lavished upon them, are so numerous and varied, 

 that it would be impossible to give anything like a particular 

 description of them without a great number of plates. Our 

 plate presents four examples, all vessels found in London, and 

 preserved in Mr. Roach Smith's museum. They will be 

 sufficient to give a general notion of the character of the 

 Samian ware. The ornamental borders which are most com- 

 monly met with are the elegant festoon and tassel borders, 

 which appear in Figs. 1 and 4 of the plate, and the egg and 

 tongue. Wavy lines, and lines of circles, are also common, 



Fig. 5. Scrolls from Samian Ware. 



We frequently meet with scroll-work of very elegant design, 

 and commonly formed of leaves, flowers, and fruit. Two 

 examples, selected from a numerous variety, are given in our 

 cut, Fig. 5, both from Samian ware found in London. These 

 scrolls are generally used to form a border round the upper 

 part of the bowl. The foliage most in favour for these scrolls 



