ITEM: Tile with paw MATERIAL: Terracotta CULTURE: Roman PERIOD: 2nd Century A.D DIMENSIONS: 85 mm x 80 mm x 32 mm CONDITION: Good condition PROVENANCE: Ex Dutch private collection, J. FRANCKEN, teacher in Eindhoven, acquired before 1980s Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export license If you bid outside the european union and win the item, we will have to apply for an export licence for your country and shipping will take 3 to 5 weeks. A Roman brick stamp is a fired clay impression used to mark bricks and tiles produced in the Roman world, primarily during the Imperial period. These stamps were typically pressed into the wet clay before firing, leaving behind inscriptions that recorded valuable information. The marks could include the name of the owner of the brickyard, the legion or military unit that produced the brick, or even the consular date, which provides a secure chronological framework. Because of this, brick stamps are not just practical identifiers but also critical archaeological evidence. The use of brick stamps was especially widespread from the 1st to the 3rd centuries CE, particularly around Rome and its surrounding regions. Many stamped bricks bear the names of imperial estates or private entrepreneurs, showing how production was organized on both state and private levels. In military contexts, stamped bricks can reveal which legion was stationed in a given area, offering direct evidence for troop movements and construction projects. The stamps also sometimes contained abbreviations and symbols, requiring careful epigraphic study to interpret correctly.