General Information
Çandarlı ware is the Middle - Late Roman evolution of Pergamene Eastern Sigillata C. It is a slipped red-gloss ware that, in the same style as the earlier Pergamene Sigillata/ESC, constituted the standard fine ware in Pergamon from the 1st - 4th c. CE.
This ware can be identified as a discrete group apart from Pergamene Sigillata/ESC starting in the mid-late 1st century CE, though distinguishing the two groups is challenging and may require chemical analyses.
The range of types present in this ware is a mere fraction of that seen in the earlier Pergamon wares, and becomes more and more stereotyped. This development is already apparent in Loeschcke's "late" group (ca. 100-140 CE), but becomes more pronounced thereafter. Copies of two common late Italian Sigillata forms - the flanged bowl Conspectus form 34 (Goudineau type 38b), and the dish Conspectus form 3.2 (Goudineau type 43) - become the standard products; they are joined at a late stage by a new shape, a dish with incurved rim. No potters' stamps occur on them (apart from the occasional single rosette stamp) and most examples are completely without decoration.
The presence of this later Çandarlı ware in the Agora was noted long ago by Waage. It is much more common than the earlier Pergamon series; in deposits of the period ca. 100 - 267/8 CE it is regularly present, outlasting the other sigillata wares and, after a manner, supplanting them, though the revived local fine wares of the period took over much of the market share previously occupied by the sigillata imports. However, by the time of the Herulian sack, if not a generation before, it was rapidly losing ground to a new competitor, African Red Slip (ARS) ware, and importation ceased soon thereafter.
The numerous examples found in the Agora consist almost entirely of flanged bowls (see pp. 788-796 in Hayes 2008), and dishes and basins derived from Conspectus form 3.2 in Italian Sigillata (see pp. 797-806 in Hayes 2008).*
*This description comes from Hayes, John W.. Roman Pottery: Fine-Ware Imports. The Athenian Agora 32. Athens: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2008
DescriptionFrom the late 1st century a harder firing was adopted than that used for Pergamene Sigillata/ESC, resulting in a fine, shiny, deep brownish-red gloss scarcely distinguishable from that of the later Italian Sigillata wares; a pinkish-red clay color is normal. This ware, which seems distinctive to the Çandarlı workshops, is the most successful rendering of the distinctive ware of Western Terra Sigillata ever achieved in the East.
Common features of this later Roman evolution of Pergamene Sigillata/ESC are deep horizontal scratches on the outer surface, caused by the turning process, and prominent imprints on floors and feet (especially on the dishes) caused by disk-like kiln supports. In time, the general finish of vessels deteriorates, but the hard gloss, very resistant to wear, is generally maintained. A small group of vessels of normal Çandarlı forms, made around the latter part of the 1st century (see p. 788 in Hayes 2008), combines a hard, granular yellow-buff clay with the normal "late" gloss treatment. These presumably come from some branch factory.
