Eastern Sigillata A is a fine, red-slipped table ware first produced c. 140-135 BCE in the region of greater Antioch (modern Antakya), in the Hatay region of Turkey, the capital and heartland of the Seleucid empire (the discovery of very over-fired/misfired ESA vessels from Antioch itself offers circumstantial evidence for production in the near vicinity of the city; see photos below, in related images). ESA vessels were intended to satisfy a growing demand for elegant vessels for table service, drinking, and dining inspired by banquets given by royalty and elites.
ESA was not the first fine table ware made in this region. It is a further development of a ceramic industry established here at the start of the Seleucid era. It i...
Very clean, moderately hard, dense light pinkish brown (5YR 7/4-7.5YR 8/4) with no visible inclusions, fully fired. Semi lustrous to lustrous smooth red slip, applied by dipping vessels into vat of slip. Often a darker band of slip appears across the middle of the vessel, from that portion having been dipped into the slip twice.
Paphos/Nea Paphos (Cyprus/Western South Coast)