Fourteen signed works by Exekias have survived, while many more have been attributed to him based on the stylistic connoisseurship method developed by John Beazley. His signed pieces provide insight not only into the work of Exekias himself but also into the way ancient pottery workshops operated. Twelve of the fourteen vessels bearing his name refer to him not as their painter but as their potter, by adding the word "epoíēsen" (ἐποίησεν) to his name. This may be translated as "Exekias made in contrast to "égrapsen" (ἓγραψεν), which translates as "painted [me" (literally: "drew "). On two amphorae, Berlin 1720 and Vatican 344, both terms are used in the iambic trimeter inscription, "Exēkías égrapse kapoíēsé me" ("Exekias made and painted me"), indicating that in these cases Exekias was responsible for both the potting of the vase and its painted decoration. Fragments of a third amphora (Taranto 179196) also show the use of both terms, when the inscriptions are restored. This leads to speculation regarding the meaning of the "epoíēsen" signatures and why, in some instances, Exekias signed only as potter on vases that he clearly painted as well. It has been suggested that he chose to sign as painter only the works he was particularly proud of. According to a different approach, Exekias' "epoíēsen" signatures could be understood as functioning as a general workshop stamp, which would mean that Exekias may have simply been the master-potter who supervised the production of the vessel. Seven of the vessels signed ""Exēkias epoíēsen,"" however, carry too little decoration to afford comparison. Only two of the remaining vases signed with "epoíēsen" can be attributed to the same hand as those signed ""... égrapse kapoíēsé me""—that is, to the painter Exekias. Beazley attributed one of the vases with the potter-only signature to the so-called Group E, to which Exekias is closely related".