Arretine and early South Gaulish Potters

The influence of Arretine on early South Gaulish potters has often been assumed, but direct evidence has hitherto been obscure and difficult to establish. The present note with the accompanying comparative drawings of Arretine and South Gaulish pottery of the Tiberian-Claudian period provides some proof of this influence, which was probably established by direct immigration of certain potters from Arezzo to South Gaul. It is clearly shown in the close imitation of their decorative details by such early South Gaulish potters as Crestus (or Crestio), Senicio with the diminutive variety Seno, Stabilio (with his acanthus or demi-acanthus), Bilicatus, Licinus, etc., and many similar cases might also be cited. Crestvs, South Gaulish potter shows a scene depicted on an Arretine vessel stamped M PERENN TIGRANI (fig. 15, 1), representing a Dionysiac sacrifice of a sucking pig by a Satyr with a short tail. He is standing on his left leg, his right foot crooked behind his right knee, and he stabs the pig's throat with a triangular knife while holding its right foot. Facing him is a woman, holding the other three legs of the pig; and, at her feet, is a bowl to receive the blood for ritual purposes. The bowl is flanked by stalked, slender flowers, as at Arezzo (Walters, BM, L 107 with acanthus). The same Dionysiac group occurs on a marble medallion in the Naples museum ( Museo Borbonico (1843), XIII, Tav. XII)

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