This page enables you to find samian ware potters by entering:
NOTE: You can always call this page by clicking the Romans in the upper lefthand corner. In the upper half of the search page you see two drop down lists, four data entry fields, two push buttons and four check boxes. The first drop down list enables you to choose a specific place of origin. If you do not want to limit the search to a specific place of origin then you can ignore this list. The default is 'All Origins'. Then there are four data entry fields, four check boxes and a drop down list. Here you can enter (part of) names of potters or (part of) potter stamps. The searches are case-insensitive: the characters entered for the potter name are all automatically converted to lower case and the characters entered for the stamp to upper case. Also, any 'u' characters entered in a stamp are converted to 'V', before comparison. If appropriate, use the check boxes to indicate whether the characters entered are at the beginning (B) or at the end (E) of the name or the stamp. When entering (part of) a stamp you can use the * character as a prefix to indicate a mirrored character, and the - character to indicate a ligature. Also, the period . may be used. When you do not use these special characters in your search string then they are also ignored in the actual stamps. For example, entering ATV will also return SA-T-V-RNINF as a result. On the other hand, entering A-T-V will only return SA-T-V-RNINF. Sometimes one or more characters are missing from the stamp. When these characters are not missing from the beginning or the end of the stamp (because then you can use the check boxes to indicate this !) then you can use the [ and ] brackets to indicate missing characters. When you enter [], then it is assumed that it is not known how many characters are missing. When you know e.g. that 3 characters are missing then put three periods between the brackets: [...] to narrow the search. You can also specify data regarding the potter’s presumed activity period. The easiest way to do this is by using the drop down list. This list contains a number of predefined periods, using the familiar practice of referring to imperial regimes. It is also possible to enter a 'from' year and 'to' year manually. Note that manually specifying a period overrules a period specified using the drop down list. By default, every potter with an activity period partly or completely overlapping the specified period will be selected (if also the other criteria have been matched). If the activity period should completely fall within the boundaries set by the specified period, the 'NS' box must be checked. In that case a 'Narrow Search' is done. When entering a 'from' and/or 'to' year manually, the year may be preceded either by a = > or < sign. Using = enforces an exact match, while > and < result in periods that either start/end after/before the specified year. In the current database there are no BC dates, so do not use the - (minus) sign. Note that checking the 'Narrow Search' check box only works when the drop down list is used or both 'from' and 'to' year are filled in. When certain data are not available then keep the data entry field empty. After having entered the data, push the 'Search' button. The data entered are compared with the data in the database. One by one the properties are matched. Use the 'Reset' button to clear all fields. NOTE: The drawings of the stamps are taken from Van Giffen (1948, 1955) while the black and white pictures come from Glasbergen (1967) and Polak (2000). |