page_title: Barbotine
hierarchical_section_title: Barbotine
caption_attribution_description: The work of Roman potters is very different from that of their Greek predecessors. Greek clay had allowed potters to throw thin-walled ceramics. Slips (paint) made from this clay had permitted painters to draw complicated scenes and figures with infinite care. As the Roman empire grew to include Germany and Britain, local clays found there were better for producing heavier pottery with three-dimensional decoration like the vases shown here. These jars--decorated with a human face (1992.125), animals (1992.126), a feather pattern (1992.183), a wheat pattern (1992.124), and vertical ribs (1992.127,a) were probably filled with foods or liquids and given either as gifts to an elaborate burial or as offerings to a god's shrine.
context_page_description: Barbotine is the French for ceramic slip, or a mixture of clay and water used for moulding or decorating pottery. In English the term is used for three different techniques of decorating pottery, though in all cases mainly for historical works. For clarity, these types are numbered here as A-C.
context_section_description: Barbotine is the French for ceramic slip, or a mixture of clay and water used for moulding or decorating pottery.  In English the term is used for three different techniques of decorating pottery, though in all cases mainly for historical works.  For clarity, these types are numbered here as A-C (which are not standard terms).
caption: Gallo-Roman cup with type B barbotine or sprigged decoration
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