Martincamp Ware: A Problem of Attribution

Martincamp’ flasks have been widely published in Great Britain under the name of this village in the Seine-Maritime (Eastern Normandy), to the extent that their ‘provenance’ is well-established in the literature. However, the evidence supporting this definite attribution is weak. A study of ‘Martincamp’ wares on both sides of the Channel, particularly from London (Museum of London) and Dieppe (Castle Museum), showed that they could have been produced in a wider area, and that the production was not just limited to flasks. This demonstrates the fundamental problem of attributions made at distance in consumer sites when so little is known of the production centres.