Creation Date

Enter the date the work was created in into both ISO Start date and ISO End date. These dates can be identical, a full date (dd/mm/yyyy), or a year (yyyy).

After entering the ISO dates, modify the Display Date as needed to reflect the date according to the style guide. TMS will generate a list of options, but the display date can be modified as free text to follow our standard formats when needed. See example below.

If a date is unknown, the display date can be changed to say “n.d.” If a date is an estimate, but not confirmed, it can be entered into the ISO date fields, and modified to display “n.d.” etc.

As policy, Blanton curators are required to make best estimate on date, and not use n.d.

Ranged dates such as centuries and circa etc. can be entered as free text. For range date, be use an en Dash and not hyphen.

Auto-generated ranges in the display date field list en dashes (both object date and artist display) and “not dated” or “circa” by default. Please note that whatever is imported will override this convention. It is not possible for ranges within the same century to the abbreviated 1720–80, and will need to be manually entered.

Guidelines

Avoid ambiguous or redundant constructions (“1860s,” not “circa 1860s”). Since “1900s” and “1910s” are potentially confusing ways to refer to the first two decades of the century—the former sounds as though the entire century is being referenced, and the latter is strange-looking to most readers—it may be preferable, depending on the situation, to list date ranges in these two cases (“circa 1900–1910” and “circa 1910–20”).

Circa – as a general rule “circa” = five years before the stated date to five years after the stated date, i.e. circa 1960 = 1955-1965

• In special cases where there is a higher level of uncertainty about the date or date range, Curatorial agrees it is okay to use “circa” with a reasonable date range, i.e. circa 1900-1915 (but in general will avoid using circa like this since it’s different from the definition of circa we agreed on above)

After – Curatorial suggests avoiding this term (i.e. after 1750) because it is too broad

• For existing records in TMS, these after dates can be changed to a date range using circa as mentioned above, or more curatorial research needs to be done.

Before – same as above, avoid using this term because it is too broad/unspecific

circa: 5 years before and after range

early eighteenth century: 1700–1749

mid-eighteenth century: 1720–1780

late eighteenth century: 1750–1800 

Two dates: When an artwork is made over a range of years, use an en dash (NOT hyphen or em dash) and truncate the date. For date ranges in which the first year ends with two zeros, give all four digits of the second year.

1975–77

2005–6

1800–1802

circa 1950 (means 1945–1955)

1950s (means 1950–59)

1935, printed 1962

Use a forward slash when an artist completed a work in one year, and then continued to work on it again in a later year. Slash can also be used for an installation work noting original installation date and then later reinstallation date or alternate site installation, and for photographs when there is a creation date and a later print date.

2001/2006