Samian ware

noun

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

Origin of Samian ware

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

Also called terra sigillata.

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British Dictionary definitions for samian ware

Samian ware

noun

a fine earthenware pottery, reddish-brown or black in colour, found in large quantities on Roman sites
Also called: Arretine 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 Origin for Samian ware

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

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