Circa 200-400 AD A finely modelled group of seven terra sigilata red slip pottery plates and bowls in an excellent state of preservation. All fine condition. Intact. Without restoration. These were utilitarian objects used within the household. The material used for modelling this vase was terra sigillata, which was a distinctive Roman pottery material with a glossy red color, often adorned with seals. The meaning of 'terra sigillata' is 'clay bearing little images' (Latin sigilla). We find these pieces from the 1st Century BC to the 3rd Century AD approximately. Although in Greece some speciments with these characteristics existed, the beginning of their history is in Tuscany (Italy), specifically in Arezzo, where potters adopted this style and developed it with the use of relief decoration. Those produced in Italica were protected by an ant adherent red glaze. Later pieces were of greater quality, of a finer and harder clay, and were darker with an ochre or earth-coloured glaze. For further reading see: Hayes, John W. 1972. Late Roman Pottery. London: British School at Rome. Hayes, John W. 1997. Handbook of Mediterranean Roman Pottery. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Peacock, D. P. S. 1982. Pottery In the Roman World: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach. London: Longman. Peña, J. Theodore. 2007. Roman Pottery In the Archaeological Record. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press. Robinson, Henry Schroder. 1959. Pottery of the Roman Period: Chronology. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Allison, P., Pitts, M. and Colley, S. (Eds). 2018. Big Data on the Roman Table: new approaches to tablewares in the Roman world.Internet Archaeology Size: Set of 7: L:143-304mm / W:143-304mm; 3.5kg Provenance: Property of a London Ancient Art Gallery; formerly in the famous Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister; acquired between early 1960s to 1990s.