Stamp number 420

Stamp No 420
form Platter
fabric TN
excavation Sheepen
context 1905Curator
present Colchester Museum
inventory 996.05
vr_cat_no 47
potter No 36
Die No 01A02
def Y
pos R
comment Die 01A02 - MEI-)I crossed D
Radial; thick base. TN - sandy white matrix; heavily burnt & discoloured, patchy B/G surfaces; no finish . Reading:- MEI-)I (crossed D). 1. 1 IC at centre + 1 DRW + 1 IC.

name1 Medi(llos)
name2
comment NA FABRIC B 14197Q
Die 01A01 = ICPS sample 66; Die 01A02 = ICPS samples 27 and 122; Die 01A04 = ICPS sample 39, thin section R719

This potter worked on a large scale and was a major supplier to Britain, probably through Camulodunum. He seems to have specialised in large TN platters, Cam forms 2 and 5B. The version Medi may be an abbreviation of the name Medilo or Medico recorded on a Cam 56 cup in TR and found at Sezanne, Marne. Although the letters are smaller the die style with the crossed D is the same. There is also a stamp from Die 01A02 on a mortarium rim found at the Bank of England site and now in the Museum of London. It may be a British product made at Brockley Hill in the pre-Flavian period and therefore the stamp evidence that a Gaulish potter moved to Britain or established a branch firm in the Claudian period.
DIES 01A01, 01A02, 01A03, 01A04, 01A05, 02B01
DIE-STYLES at least 4 dies by the same hand, thick strokes and large clear letters. Die 01A05 definitely has a plain D. Die 02B01 looks like a fairly successful copy with an upside down M.
FABRICS TN

Die 01A01- MEI-)I, thick strokes for all letters.
FORMS Cam 14, small & large platter
SOURCE ICPS results Marne/Vesle
DATE
DISTRIBUTION Sheepen I; Box grove; Chichester 'Chapel St' Eccles; Hacheston; Stone; London - mortarium
Die-group 01A at Rheims kilns, 972 (RMS3); Sept-Saulx; Courmelois; Trier (TR53); Stahl; Dalheim; Epinay St Beuvre; Bavay; Tournai; Angreau; Bavay TN ; Blicquy, Cam 5 (2); Tongres 3R Cam 5 TN; Langres; Les Mureaux; Paris; Vimy T7 TN.


Die 01A02 - MEI-)I crossed D
FORMS small & large platters
SOURCE Marne-Vesle for TN; mortarium not known, not Marne Vesle.
DATE
DISTRIBUTION Sheepen I (4)
Die-group 01A at Rheims kilns, 972 (RMS3); Sept-Saulx; Courmelois; Trier (TR53); Stahl; Dalheim; Epinay St Beuvre; Bavay; Tournai; Angreau; Bavay TN ; Blicquy, Cam 5 (2); Langres; Les Mureaux; Paris.

Die 01A03 - MEI-)I crossed D
FORMS small & large platters
SOURCE Marne-Vesle
DATE
DISTRIBUTION Sheepen I (4); Rheims (RMS3)


Die 01A04 - MEDI ?Die 01A02 broken, repaired in antiquity and re-used.
FABRICS TN
FORMS Cam 5
SOURCE Marne-Vesle
DATE
DISTRIBUTION Sheepen I (2)

Die 01A05- MEDI plain D otherwise same A-group style.
FORMS Cam 5
SOURCE Marne-Vesle
DATE
DISTRIBUTION Sheepen I; Blicquy, TN Cam 5.

Die 02B01 - I-\-/EDI = MEI-); crossed D, initial letter usd M.
FABRICS TN, TR
FORMS Cam 58
SOURCE import
DATE
DISTRIBUTION Sheepen I (2)

Copyright © 2006-2007 Oxford University Institute of Archaeology
Website design and development by Lucian Pricop and David Sturtevant (Oxford Archaeology Digital)