Estampage or stamping, is a term commonly used in

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

to obtain the exact replica of an inscription that cannot be transported. According to Jayanti Madhukar, it is defined as: The

Merriam-Webster Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

defines it as:

Etymology

According to T.S. Ravishankar, former director of the Epigraphy branch of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

(ASI), Estampage is a purely Indian term used by

Epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s. However, a more linguistically correct explanation would be that it originated from the French word estampage (by itself of Proto-Germanic etymology) that literally means 'stamping' and in practice, can mean either of the two processes, namely industrial stamping of steel (

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

) or the artistic stamping of various materials. The latter meaning seems to have been adopted into epigraphy.

Process of estampage

Estampage is typically obtained by pressing wet paper on to the rock face, over which any ink material (usually, coal or

Indian ink India ink (British English: Indian ink; also Chinese ink) is a simple black or coloured ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing and outlining, especially when inking comic books and comic strips. In ...

) is wiped. A representative procedure is listed below: * Soak a brush in water * Clean the surface of the stone (that holds the inscription) using the brush. * Carpet the stone surface using a large piece of wet paper (or layers of paper) * Pat the wet paper(s) gently, using a dabber made of soft material. * Use Indian ink (usually black-colored) to smear the paper with the dabber, in order to get the impression of the surface. * Allow the paper to dry on the stone surface. * When the paper becomes dry, take it off slowly. * Observe and verify the ink impression (estampage) emerging as white-colored letters (grooves of the characters) against the dark (black) background. Epigraphers usually take a long time (days to weeks) to post-process the generated estampages, as they try to decipher, analyze, transliterate and translate the inscribed text.

Usage

Within India, estampages have been made for numerous items and inscriptions of archaeological significance. Some of them include: *

Edicts of Ashoka The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from 268 BCE to 2 ...

and Estampages of Girnar Edicts in particular * Syriac/ Pahlavi inscriptions of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Museums and displays

In 2016, the epigraphy branch of the ASI Southern Zone opened a new, permanent museum and exhibition of estampages named ''Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch Memorial Museum and Epigraphical Photo Exhibition'' at the historic

Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress at the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, South India. This museum is named after E. Hultzsch, a German epigraphist and

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

renowned for understanding and deciphering the ancient inscriptions of Ashoka, as part of his 159th birthday celebrations.

References

{{reflist Archaeological corpora Methods in archaeology Epigraphy

Etymology

Process of estampage

Usage

Museums and displays

See also

References