Samian ware

American  

noun

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

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Samian ware British  

noun

1. a fine earthenware pottery, reddish-brown or black in colour, found in large quantities on Roman sites

2. 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

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

"Or maybe you would prefer a bit of Samian ware, or jet ware, or Rockingham ware, or yellow ware, or stoneware, or ironstone china, or white granite, or Queen's."

From The Story of Porcelain by Bassett, Sara Ware

Roman lamps, tear vessels, and fragments of sacrificial vessels of Samian ware were met with chiefly towards the Cheapside corner of the churchyard.

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter

In 1852 tesselated pavement, Samian ware, earthen urns and lamp, and other Roman vessels were found from twelve to twenty feet deep near Basing Lane, New Cannon Street.

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter

Below Kit's Coty House, Mr. Wright, the archæologist, found the remains of a Roman villa, with quantities of Samian ware, coins, and other articles.

From A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land by Hughes, William R. (William Richard)

Sometime, however, Theo, you should go to one of our museums and see some Samian ware, the finest of Roman clay work.

From The Story of Porcelain by Bassett, Sara Ware