DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42499#0115
On Brick-stamps.
47
Now, it is clear that whoever first impressed a seal or stamp on
the brick while yet fresh, made the first step in a new branch of
artf. And, possibly, the earlier bricks, especially those of the smaller
dimensions, were not all stamped, though, in each hundred, some
must have been marked.
The oldest stamps, generally, are of a rectilinear form, with letters
of moderate size, sunk in intaglio. The more recent stamps are
usually of a curved form, or semicircular, with the letters of their
inscriptions in relief. But these rules are, nevertheless, not always
adhered to. We may, however, affirm that, from the time of the
Antonines, the usual form of the stamps was round. The inscrip-
tions, divided into more than one line, when much longer, usually
follow the inward curves of the stamp.
On the stamp of Annius Verus, noticed above, we have seen that
the letter Z of the name Zosimus is represented inverted (thus, >).
Such irregularities are of common occurrence. It has been a
common idea that this has arisen from the circumstance that
the seal-stamps were often made with moveable letters, after the
fashion of modern printing, as in this way the letters, in progress
of arrangement, might easily get disarranged. It would, however,
be a strange fact if the ancients should have been acquainted
with the use of moveable types, yet should not have attained the
invention of printing.
We have seen that the stamp of Marcus Rutilius Lupus is dis-
tinguished by a club and a branch, that of Asinia Quadratilla by
a pine-tree, and one of Domitia Lucilla by two torches. Marks
of this kind are the private stamps of the manufactory; thus one
manufactory impressed a figure of Hercules, another of Minerva,
Mercury, a horse, a wreath, &c. Besides this, it is probable that,
in some cases, these signs (or symbols) bore an allusion to the
proprietor or the manufacturer; thus on that of Lupus, who was at
the head of the Bruttian works, we find the stamp of a wolf, in
evident reference to his name s.
The following are other examples of the same practice :—
OP . DOL . EX . PR . CIVLI STEPHAN
APRO ET CATVL COS
(wreath).
That is, op[us] DOLfiare] ex PR[aediis] cfaii] iVLl[i] STEPHAN[i]
APRO . ET . CATVL[lino] COS. A.D.
f This was a first step in printing,
ancl in woodcuts, as a kind of engrav-
ing ; the stamps were cut in wood, and
impressed on the soft clay before it was
130.
burned or baked.
§ This was a sort of anticipation of
heraldry, as the letters on the inscrip-
tion are of printing.
47
Now, it is clear that whoever first impressed a seal or stamp on
the brick while yet fresh, made the first step in a new branch of
artf. And, possibly, the earlier bricks, especially those of the smaller
dimensions, were not all stamped, though, in each hundred, some
must have been marked.
The oldest stamps, generally, are of a rectilinear form, with letters
of moderate size, sunk in intaglio. The more recent stamps are
usually of a curved form, or semicircular, with the letters of their
inscriptions in relief. But these rules are, nevertheless, not always
adhered to. We may, however, affirm that, from the time of the
Antonines, the usual form of the stamps was round. The inscrip-
tions, divided into more than one line, when much longer, usually
follow the inward curves of the stamp.
On the stamp of Annius Verus, noticed above, we have seen that
the letter Z of the name Zosimus is represented inverted (thus, >).
Such irregularities are of common occurrence. It has been a
common idea that this has arisen from the circumstance that
the seal-stamps were often made with moveable letters, after the
fashion of modern printing, as in this way the letters, in progress
of arrangement, might easily get disarranged. It would, however,
be a strange fact if the ancients should have been acquainted
with the use of moveable types, yet should not have attained the
invention of printing.
We have seen that the stamp of Marcus Rutilius Lupus is dis-
tinguished by a club and a branch, that of Asinia Quadratilla by
a pine-tree, and one of Domitia Lucilla by two torches. Marks
of this kind are the private stamps of the manufactory; thus one
manufactory impressed a figure of Hercules, another of Minerva,
Mercury, a horse, a wreath, &c. Besides this, it is probable that,
in some cases, these signs (or symbols) bore an allusion to the
proprietor or the manufacturer; thus on that of Lupus, who was at
the head of the Bruttian works, we find the stamp of a wolf, in
evident reference to his name s.
The following are other examples of the same practice :—
OP . DOL . EX . PR . CIVLI STEPHAN
APRO ET CATVL COS
(wreath).
That is, op[us] DOLfiare] ex PR[aediis] cfaii] iVLl[i] STEPHAN[i]
APRO . ET . CATVL[lino] COS. A.D.
f This was a first step in printing,
ancl in woodcuts, as a kind of engrav-
ing ; the stamps were cut in wood, and
impressed on the soft clay before it was
130.
burned or baked.
§ This was a sort of anticipation of
heraldry, as the letters on the inscrip-
tion are of printing.