Roman Ceramic Oil Lamp

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Roman Ceramic Oil Lamp
CULTURE / REGION OF ORIGIN: Roman Empire, possibly Eastern Mediterranean.
DATE: 1st – 2nd Century CE
DIMENSIONS: 11.5 cm. (4.5 in.) long

DESCRIPTION:Intact. A Roman mould-made red slip ceramic oil lamp with an angular volute nozzle, the recessed discus decorated with a large head of Medusa surrounded by a depressed wave pattern. The discus is surrounded by a three-tiered circular moulding, and there is a fill hole just below the Medusa head. The brick red slip is generally well preserved, and there is very minor encrustation. There is smoke staining at the wick hole. The moulded decoration is somewhat worn but still clear. Inside the ring base there is an illegible and very lightly impressed maker’s name.

PROVENANCE: Formerly in the private English collection of Mr. Peter Negus, the collection formed between the 1920s and 2007 from various sources in the UK and abroad.

PUBLISHED: Bonham’s, ANTIQUITIES, 26 October, 2007, London, page 142, illustrated in color.

COMPARISONS: For a Roman lamp of the 2nd Century CE decorated with the head of Medusa, see The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston website (www.mfa.org/collection/search), Accession number 81.322.

Item #CA-07-66

Price $600.00