A Roman Shipwrecked Transport Amphora, Roman Imperial Period, ca. 1st century CE

Transport amphorae, like the one shown here, were widely used in the ancient Mediterranean for the transport and storage of various goods, including wine, olive oil, marine products, and preserved fruits. Unlike other amphorae that are often elaborately decorated, transport amphorae are typically undecorated and unglazed, designed specifically for maritime transport. Each amphora could hold nearly half a ton of goods.

This particular example features several characteristics that make it suitable for pouring and efficient stacking on ships: it has two vertical, double-thick handles, a rounded shape with thick walls for added strength, a wide conical neck that facilitates easy pouring, and a tapering base with a short peg, which allows for safe stacking of multiple amphorae. Originally, this amphora was used to carry wine across the sea. The marine encrustation on its surface indicates that it was shipwrecked before reaching its final destination and was ultimately recovered from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.

Medium: Clay

Dimensions: Height: 26 1/2 inches (67.3 cm)

Condition:   Complete, reassembled from several pieces and in good condition overall.

Provenance: Ambassador Allen Clayton Davis (1927 - ) private collection, acquired between (1968-1970). Ambassador Allen Clayton Davis's diplomatic career in Africa spanned a period of thirty years. Beginning in 1958, he served in Washington, and then he went to Africa for the first time, as a consular/political officer in Liberia. From 1960 through 1965, Davis served in Washington as a desk officer, first for African Affairs, and he was then assigned to the Western European Affairs bureau on the Belgian desk. In 1966, he was sent to Moscow as a political officer, and in 1968, Davis returned to Africa, first for an assignment in Ouagadougou in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) as the deputy chief of mission, and then to Algiers as a political officer and as deputy chief of mission in Senegal and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In 1980, he was appointed American ambassador to Guinea and in 1983 the American ambassador to Uganda. He returned to Washington in 1985 and was posted to the United Nations to work with the African delegations. He later was sent across the Atlantic to work with the European Command in Stuttgart, which had just been given responsibility for Africa. Upon returning once again to Washington in 1990, Ambassador Davis retired from the U.S. Foreign Service.