This was a special request and part of a two-part project done to fulfill my end of a trade. The other party had travelled to Brescia and had a number of photos of pieces of Langobard pottery from the museum at Santa Giulia. He requested a pair of these beakers and a jug based on an example found at Testona. This type of beaker is a common form for smaller vessels in the Langobard style, and the German term used in scholarly sources is “Beutelbecher” – literally “bag/pouch cup,” as it looks rather like a drawstring pouch.
I was able to cross-reference the stamps on this piece piece to Die langobardische Keramik aus Italien and work out which ones I needed to do it: a 3×3 lozenge/diamond, a double-row of five teeth with a wide gap between them, and a horseshoe shape with a slightly beveled edge. All three are carved from antler, and the test impression shown above is on gray kneaded eraser – my favorite method for fine-tuning a stamping die, since it is endlessly reusable and doesn’t dry out like clay.
And here’s what the stamps actually look like on a test beaker:
farolfvs me fecit 