CHÉMERY
Moselle, France.
Situated ca. 4
km S of Faulquemont, and the site of an important
Gallo-Roman sigillata factory excavated in 1934-36. It
was the principal pottery of Saturninus and Satto; many
of their fellow-workers had previously worked at Boucheporn. Saturninus still made some Drag. 29 vases here but
Satto, who took his place around 125, turned out only
Drag. 37 forms, as did the other potters in the group.
Plain forms were made by some 50 potters: Drag. 18,
18/31, 27, 32, 33, 35, 36, 40. This typology and the
fact that certain potters moved away enable us to date
the start of the enterprise ca. A.D. 90 and the end ca. 150-160.
Four potter's kilns were discovered (two rectangular,
one round, and the third in the process of being rebuilt), part of the workshop, and some dumps. Chémery
marks the economic success of the Saturninus-Satto
group, which the former initiated and the latter expanded. Chémery had some dealings with Blickweiler ca.
125-130, and it exported over a wide area, from England
to the middle Danube. The N and NW zones accounted
for ca. 57 percent of the trade and the E zone 28 percent;
the remainder was distributed locally. Chémery enjoyed
both commercial success and prestige: the art of Saturninus and Satto influenced several generations of potters
in E Gaul, especially at La Madeleine, Heiligenberg, and
Rheinzabern.
The Metz museum has archaeological collections.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Delort,
Les vases ornés de la Moselle
(1953).
M. LUTZ
