General Information

The Sardian Late Classical/Hellenistic Tableware Family represents a group of vessels marked by their casual refinement. Within this family, there are three tentatively identified subgroups (A, B, and C) that differ in workmanship. Group A represents the local fineware tradition and is characterized by its more finely levigated and consistently fired fabric, higher quality of slip, and frequent presence of refined decoration. Group B represents the more casual local tableware industry and is characterized by a more granular fabric that is less consistently fired, has lower quality of slip, and relaxed decoration. In other words, Group A has a more refined production and workmanship than Group B. Group C represents an assemblage of debris from a 2nd-1st century BCE workshop at Sardis, and thus demonstrates a cohesive group of material that may be distinguishable from Groups A and B. Given the overlap in forms and quality between Group A and Group C, it is possible that Group C represents a later, datable iteration of the Group A tradition. 

This ware family is produced with local Sardian clay, distinguished by its light red/reddish yellow color and high concentration of gold mica. The vessels of this ware are made with a finely levigated clay. Vessels within this group have walls with a range of thickness from 0.15 to 0.70 centimeters. Vessels are usually slipped or semi-glazed (colors include red, black, and light brown). There are typically no more than two colors of slip, often contrasting—and frequently black and red—on the same vessel. When decoration is present, styles include moldmade, incised, and painted. These vessels range from semi-fired to fully fired.

This ware is represented by a range of table vessel shapes: askoi, fish plates, mastoi, pitchers, table amphorae, ledge rim bowls, ledge rim plates, hemispherical bowls and cups, incurved rim bowls, everted rim bowls, plates with downturned rims, plates with knobbed rims, and moldmade bowls.

In addition to this ware, several others have been identified at Sardis by Susan Rotroff in her 2003 Sardis M12 volume. Rotroff identifies three other discrete tableware productions: “Hard Fabric” (pp. 27-28), “Red Fabric 1” (pp. 135-136), and “Red Fabric 2” (pp. 138-139). Some vessels of Sardian LC/H TW share similarities with “Hard Fabric” and “Red Fabric 1”, and future testing and excavation may show that these belong to a single production source. What can be said with reasonable probability is that Sardian LC/H TW is certainly a local production and shares with these other groups the same refined clay and professional degree of workmanship.

Sardis (Turkey/Aegean)