Arrabona - Múzeumi közlemények 3. (Győr, 1961)

E. B. Thomas: Roman Glazed Ware Ornamental Vessels in the Győr Museum

ROMAN GLAZED WARE ORNAMENTAL VESSELS IN THE GYÖR MUSEUM The varieties of Roman glazed pottery are so often related to glazed ware manufactured later, in the Middle Ages, that our statements as to the Roman origin of some glazed vessels are sometimes met by the doubts of a part of foreign scholars. The rich material of Roman glazed pottery in Pannónia is possessing an attraction of novelty especially with the archaeologists of territories, the Roman finds of which are lacking this special sort of ware, or are throwing out a fragment now and again, mainly from sites having several strata, so that an exact chronological attribution is made impossible. During the last years the observation of several verified and well dated finds and some workshops manufacturing glazed pottery enabled us to get acquainted with these products of ceramics better and to place the date of their production between narrower time limits. On the basis of this material, having gathered the glazed ware objects preserved in the museums of Pannónia, we set ourselves the task to elaborate the chronology of Pannonian glazed pottery. In the near future our study on the origins, dating and typological grouping of the Pannonian glazed ceramic vessels and figures will be finished. We have chosen a few Roman ornamental vessels of the János Xántus Museum at Győr from this collection, in order to present and elaborate them in more detail. The glazed pottery specimens of the Győr Museum are derived from the collecting area of the same. The most interesting specimens of Roman glazed ware came to light as a result of investigations carried out on the so-called Brewery Hill at Győr, partly several decades ago, through the uncovering of Elemér Lovas,

1 partly recently, through the excavations of Endre Biró.

2 We do not intend to present here the entire material preserved by the Győr Museum. In the following we only deal with the glazed ornamental vessels of green colour. All of these came to light in the territory of Győr city, the Roman Arrabona. 1. One-handled mug, light green, fine to the touch both inside and outside, covered with a uniform glaze. (Fig. 1.) We do not find a near analogy of this small vessel in the glazed ceramic material of Pannónia. The pots of Buda and Kiskőszeg are coming the nearest.

5 The rim shaping of the small handled mug differs from the usual thickening rims: it is formed to ensure a good repose for the lid. (Fig. 2.) The Aquincum excavations have brought to light the fragments of a similar green-glazed, moon-ornamented lid;

6 a similar lid may have covered the Győr mug too. The shape of the mug is unusual in Pannónia, both on glazed and unglazed products. In spite of this we are bound to say that these forms with the drawn-in bellies, as it were, are to be found especially near the south-western

7 and western

8 borders of Pannónia. As to the date of production of this mug, the fine quality of its glaze, its light yellowish-green colour, together with the shape and ornaments of the vessel, bear out in our judgment the dating between the so-called lemon-glazed pottery of the early first century

9 and the glazed ink-stand, found in grave 92 of the cemetery near the Aranyhegy brook, dated to the first two decades of the second century

10 by Lajos Nagy with the help of the accompanying finds.

11 So we are dating the mug of the Calvary Hill to the end of the first or the beginning of the second century. 2. Two-handled vase-shaped jar, with a brownish-green uniform glaze, covering it in a thick layer solidly. (Fig. 3.) The two-handled vase-shaped jar mentioned under 2) reminds us of the forms used in the eastern provinces. Its shape, instead of imitating the bronze or other metal vessels, shows a similarity rather with the smaller and more elegant glasses.

12 The two handles, bent thinly in an arch, diverge from the handles usual with the products of pottery, contradicting their material, the clay, as it were. As a matter 30