Estampage
Estampage or stamping, is a term commonly used in epigraphy to obtain the exact replica of an inscription that cannot be transported.
According to Jayanti Madhukar, it is defined as: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as:
Etymology
According to T.S. Ravishankar, former director of the Epigraphy branch of the Archaeological Survey of India, Estampage is a purely Indian term used by Epigraphists.However, a more linguistically correct explanation would be that it originated from the French word estampage that literally means 'stamping' and in practice, can mean either of the two processes, namely industrial stamping of steel 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 is wiped.A representative procedure is listed below:
- Soak a brush in water
- Clean the surface of the stone using the brush.
- Carpet the stone surface using a large piece of wet paper
- Pat the wet paper gently, using a dabber made of soft material.
- Use Indian ink 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 emerging as white-colored letters against the dark background.
Usage
Within India, estampages have been made for numerous items and inscriptions of archaeological significance.Some of them include:
- Edicts of Ashoka and Estampages of Girnar Edicts in particular
- Syriac/Pahlavi inscriptions of Kerala