Samian ware

noun

1. a red-glazed terracotta pottery produced in Gaul and the Moselle Valley a.d. 100–300 and copied from Arretine ware.

Samian ware

noun

1. a fine earthenware pottery, reddish-brown or black in colour, found in large quantities on Roman sites
2. Also calledArretine ware the earlier pottery from which this developed, an imitation of a type of Greek pottery, made during the first century bc at Arretium

Word History and Origins

Origin of Samian ware¹

First recorded in 1835–45; after classical references to a type of pottery produced at Samos, perhaps an imitation of the red-glazed ware produced in Gaul and Italy

Word History and Origins

Origin of Samian ware¹

C19: named after the island of Samos , source of a reddish-coloured earth resembling terra sigillata, similar to the earth from which the pottery was made