Trier saying mug

The Trier Spruchbecher is a type of ceramic found from the Roman Empire and Late Antiquity , which was particularly widespread in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire . Characteristic of the drinking cups, which belong to engobed goods (also black varnish ceramics ), are toasts and decorations in white painting made from white clay slip .

Trier saying mug from Krefeld-Gellep ( Gelduba )

Metz, musées de la Cour d'Or, Trier Spruchbecher (center), inscription: GAVDEAS ("Rejoice!")

Would

The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik is documented at numerous sites in the Rhineland. Its characteristic decoration meant that it found its way into numerous collections early on. It is not exclusively about cups, there are also associated mixing and application vessels and, more rarely, bowls and bowls. The cups were collected typological first time in 1914 with the publication of the ceramic finds from the fort Niederbieber of Franz Oelmann .

At first, Cologne was thought to be the place of manufacture, as large quantities of the ceramics for the saying cup were found there. Excavations by Siegfried Loeschcke in the Roman pottery district of Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ) on Louis-Lintz-Straße provided evidence that Trier was the only place of production. In addition to large quantities of broken vessels, Loeschcke also found incorrect fires , and the fact that the tone of the goods is relatively uniform.

While the engobed cups from the early imperial era often have different shades of brown, the coating on later products such as the Trier saying cups is pure black. The coating often has a metallic sheen, while the vessels are very thin-walled. Only in the further course of late antiquity did the treasure trove of forms diminish to vessels with thicker walls and a lower-quality coating. This also applies to the Trier mugware; later pieces usually have thicker walls and a less shiny coating, which flakes off if the preservation conditions are unfavorable.

Beaker from Novaesium , inscription BIBE ("Drink").

Bottle with a cylindrical neck and a choker , labeled MISCE ("mix").

Trier mug ceramics in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

The mixing vessel with a capacity of almost four liters was recovered in the atrium of the Villa Rustica Szentendre-Skanzen in Hungary with the corresponding Trier saying beakers.

to form

Mainly various bulbous cups with a conical neck were produced. In contrast to the cups with a carnation rim that were common in the early Imperial Era, they usually have slightly pronounced rim lips. The shoulder can occasionally be more articulated in the form of a choker. Some vessels have folds on the wall ("fold cups"), which should help to hold them in the hand. Barrel-shaped mugs, cups, bowls, suction cups, canthari , jugs, bottles, bowls and a bell are also documented. Some of the 19 shapes are reminiscent of the gloss ware of the 2nd century. But there are also types that have parallels in the Terra Sigillata or were developed based on metal or glass models . The parallels between the barrel-shaped cups and bottles and the Celtic shapes are interesting .

ornament

Since the vessels are largely custom-made, only general statements can be made about the various decorative elements. Wavy or zigzag bands, rows of dots or tendrils for peripheral friezes are very common . Dots, swabs or floral motifs such as grapes and leaves were often used between medallion fields and as word separators. The models of these decorations can often be found in the hallmarks of the terra sigillata vessels of this time.

The painted inscriptions give an insight into the table manners of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. Until its appearance, many existing inscriptions are summarized in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum Volume XIII. Most of the time they reproduce everyday dialogues between the host and his guest, drinker and friend, as well as the vessel and the drinker. By far the largest group contains calls or requests to drink wine. The writing usually consisted of white barbotine dots or it was painted on. Some vessels can also be identified as votive offerings through their decoration or their inscriptions . They provide information about the religious ideas of this time. The references to the Mithras cult are particularly numerous .

production

The emergence of the Trier goblet ware is set chronologically to the time of the Limes falls around 255 AD. It is still present in the latest findings from Limes forts such as in Niederbieber. The end is assumed about 100 years later on the basis of socialized coin finds. As a production site, the Trier pottery site on Pacelliufer is secured by discoveries of false fires. In 1933, a part of the pottery site north of the city wall on Töpferstrasse and Louis-Lintz-Strasse was exposed, which also included an oven with a bottle-shaped floor plan, which still contained ornate black varnish ceramics.

The distribution area extends from England to present-day Romania, with only a few pieces in the peripheral areas. The Trier slogan cupware is most common in the Rhine and Danube regions, in northern Gaul and in southern England.

literature

• Erich Gose: Types of vessels in Roman ceramics in the Rhineland. Cologne 1976, ISBN 3-7927-0293-2 , pp. 15-19.
• Eszter Harsányi: The Trier black engobed goods and their imitations in Noricum and Pannonia. Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-902666-30-7 ( Austria Antiqua 4).
• Susanna Künzl: The Trier saying cup ceramics. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, ISBN 3-923319-35-5 ( supplements of the Trier magazine 21).
• Karl Heinz Lenz : Fine ceramics. In: Thomas Fischer (Ed.): The Roman Provinces. An introduction to their archeology. Theiss-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1591-X , pp. 290-293.
• Renate Pirling: A Trier saying mug with an unusual inscription from Krefeld-Gellep. In: Germania 71, 1993, pp. 387-404.
• Judit Topál : The import of the so-called Moselle wine ceramics in Pannonia. In: Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautorum Acta 27/28, 1990, pp. 177-184.
• Fabienne Vilvorder: La céramique métallescente de Trèves. In: Raymond Brulet / F. Vilvorder / Richard Delage: La céramique romaine en Gaule du nord. Dictionnaire des céramiques. Brepols, Turnhout 2010, ISBN 978-2-503-53509-8 , pp. 351-356.

Web links

Commons : Trier Spruchbecher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Inscription: Ol (l) am Fortunae Supe (r) stinius Filica Clementinio Advento / pr (a) efecto leg (ionis) XXX cum familia sua utatur feliciter. Translation: Superstinius Filica (given) the vessel of happiness to Clementinus Adventus, Prefect of the 30th Legion. May he use it happily with his family. Renate Pirling : A Trier saying mug with an unusual inscription from Krefeld-Gellep. In: Germania 71, 1993, pp. 387-404; Susanna Künzl: The Trier saying cup ceramics. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 192, cat.-no. KRE 119.
2. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 200, cat. No. MET 1.
3. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 8 therefore prefers the terms Spruchbecherware or Spruchbecherkeramik .
4. ^ Franz Oelmann: The ceramics of the Niederbieber fort. 2. Reprint of the Frankfurt am Main 1914 edition, Habelt, Bonn 1976, ISBN 3-7749-0678-5 , pp. 35ff.
5. ↑ Siegfried Loeschcke: pottery waste Younger 259/260 in Trier: From a Roman mine at the Louis-Lintz Street. In: Trier Annual Report 13, 1923, pp. 55–58, Supplement II, pp. 103–107; the same: monuments of viticulture from the time of Roman rule on the Moselle, Saar and Ruwer. In: Trier Journal 7, 1932, pp. 1-60.
6. ^ Karl Heinz Lenz : Fine ceramics. In: Thomas Fischer (Ed.): The Roman Provinces. An introduction to their archeology. Theiss-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, p. 292.
7. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 202, cat.-no. NEW 9.
8. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 202, cat.-no. NEW 1.
9. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 218, cat.-no. LIKE 2; unknown; Cat.-No. LIKE 4 (from left to right).
10. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 38f.
11. ↑ CIL 13, 10018 .
12. ↑ Susanna Künzl: The Trier Spruchbecherkeramik. Decorated black varnish ceramics of the 3rd and 4th centuries. Trier 1997, p. 129.