Jar

In an undated note, Freer referred to this two-handled Roman period jar as worthy of "study, but not for an individual case exhibition." Freer purchased it in 1907 from Dikran Kelekian, one of his customary sources for Raqqa ware and other Near Eastern ceramics. Originally thought to be of Egyptian origin, the vessel is now understood to be Roman. It is an example of faience, a type of fine tin-glazed pottery originally associated with Faenza in Northern Italy, but more accurately derived from Middle Eastern pottery techniques. Examples of this type of pottery have been produced throughout Europe since ancient times.