General Information

Eastern Pink Ware is a red-slipped fine ware of unknown origin, possibly Cypriot. Kathleen Slane identified it in her study of the fine ware from Tel Anafa, in northern Israel, where it is the second most common fine ware in that site's early-mid 1st c. CE loci (ESA being the most common). Early Roman Eastern Pink Ware has a fine, somewhat powdery fabric, pink-red in color (10R 6-6/8). Vessels are fully covered in a semi-lustrous red slip (2.5YR 4/8), applied by double dipping. 

INAA analysis conducted at MURR demonstrated that Early Roman Eastern Pink Ware is chemically distinct from Cypriot sigillata (see Slane 1997, p. 394, Fig. 1), although a Cypriot source for Eastern Pink Ware does remain possible. If it was made on Cyprus, however, it was probably not in the same locale as Cypriot Sigillata, because a different set of forms appear in each ware. The early Roman sigillata forms that appear in Eastern Pink Ware do not appear in Cypriot sigillata (and vice versa). 

The vessels found at Tel Anafa are versions of early Roman ESA plates and cups, and also a few forms of western sigillata. This pattern suggests a manufacturing center where ESA was a ready source of inspiration, yet one where potters were also familiar with western forms. One cup foot from Tel Anafa bears a rectangular stamp with Latin letters which clearly copies the stamps of C. Sentius. The clumsiness of the lettering suggests, however, that the craftsman who cut it may have been illiterate, at least in Latin.*

* This description comes from Slane 1997, pp. 371-372.

Early Roman Eastern Pink Ware has a fine, somewhat powdery fabric, pink-red in color (10R 6-6/8). There are a moderate number of fine white inclusions, which are probably lime, and sparse, rounded, dark red inclusions. Vessels are fully covered in a semi-lustrous red slip (2.5YR 4/8), applied by double dipping. The slip can be patchy or fugitive, and sometimes wears off in large patches.

Tel Anafa (Israel/Hula Valley)