162 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
No. 2. 
Greek weights in lead, 300 years B. C. Ex; 
will be described later on — Louvre Mus 
Was this metal incrusted or soldered with the gold 
and silver which surrounded it? We leave the solution 
of this problem to the imagination of the reader, and 
simply state that tin entered quite largely into the 
decoration of these pieces, and that poets knew of the 
artistic use of this metal, since they named it among those 
used to embellish the finest works of art. 
After this for a long time we lose all trace of tin. In 
the ancient documents in which tin is mentioned, its use 
is not given. Even Homer, who often refers to the kettles 
of brass used by the heroes to boil their meat, says nothing 
of tin as used in domestic utensils. 
Beckman, in his "History of Inventions, Discover- 
ies, and Origins",* says that there must have been in 
ancient times art objects in tin; but he adds: "If these 
objects are not mentioned, and if no examples are found 
among Greek and Roman antiquities, it is because tin has 
less durability than lead or bronze, specimens of which 
are numerous." However this may be, we must pass 
over a long period before tin is again mentioned by a 
Greek author. Aristotle (384-322 B. C.) speaks of a tin 
statue attribtued to Daedalus, which was greatly valued 
in the Electride Islands (Adriatic Sea) . 
In Rome we find ample data referring to tin, and a 
profusion of objects which, becoming more and more 
common, form a much more striking illustration than the 
most beautiful and plausible descriptions. Mr. Germain 
Bapst,| in his learned work on pewter, gives many facts 
translated from the German bv William Johnston, 4th. Ed., 
London, 2 Vol. 1856. 
fEtude sur l'Etain. G. Bapst, 1884. Paris. 
Nos. 3 and.4. 
Tin mirrors (one complete) Roman period II. Century B. C. Found in Trebizon- 
de — Louvre Museum, Paris. 
instead of probabilities. In the second Century B. C. we 
find pewter used in table service. Plautus depicts, in one 
of his comedies, a feast of his time, at which all the meats 
are served in pewter basins. The luxury of the dishes 
doing service at this repast leads us to believe that tin, 
though an ordinary metal, was used by the rich as well as 
by the poor, and even in important ceremonies. Beside 
the pewter used in art objects, another metallic composition 
was used in Rome for every day purposes, and this latter 
may be called pewter pottery. Gallienus and Pliny indicate 
pewter as the best metal for pharmaceutical utensils, medi- 
cine boxes, pixidia, basins, etc. Another author recommends 
it for cooking utensils , for the reception of wine and preserves . 
Roman soldiers carried a tin pot. The common people used 
vessels of tin, as well as bowls of clay and wooden trays. 
Plautus and Seneca speak of tin mirrors as much used by 
the Romans and by the people under their rule. 
The writer owns a pewter spoon of the Gallo-Roman 
period, found in the Grand Duchy of Baden, and which had 
beeu buried in the ground with a copper utensil resemb- 
ling a pot. The Romans made small funeral vases of 
tin, with inscriptions and simple decorations, but, as Mr. 
Beckman, already quoted, remarks, "tin, especially if 
used in thin sheets, is easily oxidized when buried; then 
it decomposes and disappears in the earth. " 
We pass over another long period, without finding any 
exact documents relating to our subject; although in the 
Gallo-Roman epoch tinning holds a prominent place. The 
Gauls to whom all authors attribute the tradition of tin- 
ning, used this process to make their culinary vessels sani- 
Nos. 5 and 6. 
a pewter-Smyrna-Ron: 
ill period II. Century B. C. 
