Bob,

Was your yellow ware examination restricted to complete vessels, or did it
involve sherds or materials from waster sites.  A couple of years ago we had
the leading collectors of yellow ware come to our offices and have them sort
a pile of yellow ware into region (mainly Ohio or Trenton, NJ) and by
potter, as they thought they could do this based on color of the Rockingham
glaze.  What we did not tell them until afterwards was they were from a
single potter from Trenton (Coxon's waster dump).  They had separated them
into several piles and were convinced they were correct ...until we came
clean with where they came from.  It was not intended to embarrassing them,
but more to educate them that the surface appearance of ceramics is
influenced by many factors such as George Miller pointed out with clays.
Anyone who has potted knows that the appearance of glazes are dependent upon
humidity, temperature, types of fuel, glaze mixtures as well as other
factors.  Many potter keep logs recording these factors so they can attempt
to duplicate products when they turn out well...similar to a fisherman who
catches a big bass on a certain overcast day in March when the temperature
was 52 degrees.

Bill Liebeknecht, MA RPA
Hunter Research, Inc.     

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bob
Genheimer
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 6:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Colorimeter for ceramics

Chris

I just completed a large scale examination of Cincinnati-area yellow ware,
and utilized a full-color Munsell book(s) for color comparison.  The Munsell
is not fully adequate, because there is still a small range of color within
each chip match.  I recognized that a colorimeter was the way to go, but
taking hundreds of vessels to the colorimeter was just not an option.  I
would be very interested in comparisons of colorimeter data with Munsell
matches.

Bob Genheimer, RPA
George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
513-455-7161 office
513-846-4898 mobile
513-455-7169 fax


-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Christopher Nicholas Marini
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2012 3:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Colorimeter for ceramics

Dear List,
I am a graduate student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and I am
currently looking to begin work on my master's thesis. The project I am
considering involves using a device called a colorimeter, which measures
color, to develop a scale for identifying ceramics, most notably creamware,
pearlware, and whiteware, as I have had personal experience with the
difficulty in identifying these artifact types.

I have done some research into this topic, but am unsure whether or not
anyone else has already attempted it. I have looked through several major
journals and have not found any reference to such a project. If anyone knows
of work of this type that has been done, please let me know of it so that I
may incorporate it into my project or switch thesis topics.

Thank you for your time,
Chris


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