An Unusual Roman Sherd from the Upchurch Marshes

AN UNUSUAL ROMAN SHERD PROM THE UPCHURCH MARSHES from a nearby pit or layer. It should be added that no such source could be discerned in the vicinity of the sherds. The important Upchurch fragment possesses an elaborate moulded decoration and is of a fine-quality ware unexpected on sites where the normal Samian forms were rare and of sufficient value for even the poorest examples to be riveted when broken. All the same, the presence of two jeweUery hoards and of roofing and hypocaust tiles, indicates that a small number of reasonably prosperous families lived in the neighbourhood. Initial attempts to produce parallels for the Upchurch sherd met with little success; and when the fragment was shown to members of the staff of the British and Victoria & Albert Museums it was suggested that it was not of Roman date, but had probably formed part of a vessel produced in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. This imexpected verdict naturally made us hesitate to pubhsh the sherd, for although it was found with Romano-British associations it was recalled that the marsh sea-defences had been constructed largely from eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century domestic refuse. It was possible, although extremely improbable, that the sherd had been washed from these recent deposits. The fragment has, however, subsequently been examined by various other authorities, among them Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Mr. W. F. Grimes, Dr. D. B. Harden, Dr. P. Corder, Mr. B. Hartley, Miss M. V. Taylor, Miss J. R. ELirk, and Miss G. Simpson, all of whom accept it as Roman, while differing in theh identification of the ware. The duU-red fabric is coated with a dark metallic slip varying in tone from grey to bronze, the moulded group appearing brown or bronze on the points of highest relief, while on the body the slip, being of uniform thickness, looks grey. The closest parallels in fabric and technique have been found at York,1 Silchester,2 and Alchester,3 but it will be seen that the quality of the moulding in these cases is inferior to that of the Upchurch fragment. This may be explained by the hypothesis that the moulds for the pan-masks, pine-cones, and gladiator that adorn the fragments from the above sites were taken from clay originals, while the Upchurch group was derived from a metal prototype. The fabric of all these sherds has been described as " Samian " with a metallic slip, possibly in the style of Libertus of Lezoux. But this identification is accepted only by a minority- of those who have examined the Upchurch fragment. The divergence of opinion in this respect raises the much larger problem of the correct use and interpretation of the terms " Samian " and " Terra Sigillata ". While the former 1 Antiquaries Journal, XXXIV, pp. 67-68, PI. XV. Mr. Mitchelson is astray here in describing the fabric as Castor ware. 2 T. May, Pottery Found at Silchester, PI. XXXV, 1-4. 3 Ant. Journ., VII, p. 172; (b) Fig. 5, 22. 70