eedingly thin and transparent, and laid
equally over the whole surface, only slightly brightening the color of
the clay. The ornament is invariably coarser than that of Arretine ware,
by which, however, it is indirectly inspired.

The vases are usually of small dimensions, consisting of various types
of bowls, cups and dishes, of which two or three forms are preferred
almost to the exclusion of the rest, and they frequently bear the stamp
of the potter impressed on the inside or outside. Although this ware is
found all over the Roman world, by far the greater portion comes from
Gaul, Germany or Britain, and evidence points to two--and only
two--districts as the principal centres of manufacture: the valleys of
the Loire and the Rhine and their immediate neighbourhood. In the 1st
century A.D. Gaulish pottery was largely exported into Italy, and
isolated finds of it occur in Spain and other parts.

The recent researches of Dr Dragendorff and M. Dechelette have shown
that a chronological sequence of the pottery may be clearly traced, both
in the shapes employed and in the method of decoration; and, further,
that it is possible--at least as regards Gaul--to associate certain
potters' names and certain types of figures, though found in many
places, with two centres in particular, Graufesenque near Rodez
(department of Aveyron) in the district occupied by the Ruteni, and
Lezoux near Clermont (department of Puy-de-Dome) in the country of the
Arverni. The periods during which these potteries flourished are
consecutive, or rather overlapping, but not contemporaneous, the former
being practically coincident with the 1st century A.D., the latter with
the 2nd and 3rd down to about A.D. 260, when the manufacture of _terra
sigillata_ practically came to an end in Gaul.

[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Bowl of Gaulish ware, with moulded patterns in
slight relief.]

There were also certain smaller potteries, some of which mark a
transition between the Italian and provincial wares, in the north of
Italy and on the Rhine and upper Loire, e.g. St Remy-en-Rollat, and
others of later date, as at Banassac and Montans in the latter district,
but none of these produced pottery of special merit or importance. The
early Rhenish wares are, strictly speaking, of a semi-Celtic or Teutonic
character, while the later German _terra sigillata_, for which the
principal centres were Rheinzabern near Carlsruhe and Westerndorf in
Bavaria, are of similar charac