the most common method of making relief decoration on the surface of an open ' vessel was to throw a pottery bowl whose interior profile corresponded with the desired form of the final vessel's exterior. the internal surface was then decorated using individual positive stamps ('), usually themselves made of fired clay, or small wheels bearing repeated motifs, such as the ovolo (egg-and-tongue) design that often formed the upper border of the decoration. details could also be added by hand with a stylus. when the decoration was complete in intaglio on the interior, the mould was dried and fired in the usual way, and was subsequently used for shaping bowls. as the bowl dried, it shrank sufficiently to remove it from the mould, after which the finishing processes were carried out, such as the shaping or addition of a foot-ring and the finishing of the rim. the details varied according to the form. the completed bowl could then be slipped, dried again, and fired. closed forms, such as jugs and jars, were seldom decorated in relief using moulds, though some vessels of this type were made at la graufesenque by making the upper and lower parts of the vessel separately in moulds and joining them at the point of widest diameter. relief-decoration of tall vases or jars was usually achieved by using moulded appliqué motifs (sprigs) and/or barbotine decoration (slip-trailing). the latter technique was particularly popular at the east gaulish workshops of rheinzabern, and was also widely used on other pottery types.