The Roman House at Hopkins | Everyday Dining: Terra Sigillata

Fragments with Graffiti

By Laura Garofalo

Both of these ceramic fragments come from bowls and may have shared not only a potter’s workshop but perhaps also an owner. The deeply incised graffito, “ANTHUSA,” on one fragment (1122) may correspond with a sketchier graffito on the other (1125), incised “ANTH,” perhaps in an abbreviation of the same name. Said to have been found together near Rome, both fragments also have the same potter’s stamp, “DARD/ANVS,” which can be linked with a pottery workshop at Puteoli, Italy – the workshop of Ancharius.

References

Robinson, D.M., ed. 1936. Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum: United States of America, The Robinson Collection, Baltimore, MD. 3 vol. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pg. 56, no. 4a-b and 3a-b, pl. XLIII, 4a-b and 3a-b.