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LOT 0215
Byzantine Bronze Oil Lamp with Chain and Chi Rho
CIRCA 5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.
15 3/4 in. (1.08 kg, 40 cm).
With a carinated, round body and long, narrow nozzle with a flaring finial, a scalloped rim around the circular wick hole; small circular filling hole with a hinged, domed lid; the elaborate trumpet-shaped handle with a hexagonal lotus flower finial with knops, and a raised Chi Rho at the forward edge; looped suspension chain with a hook, and a square socket at the base to accommodate a stand pricket.
ProvenancePrivate collection, Stortford, England, 1982.
with Christie's, New York, 9 June 2011, no.203.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13194-250130.
Exhibited at the Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 4th March 2026-7th June 2026; accompanied by a copy of a photograph of the artefacts on display.
LiteratureCf. similar specimens in Morigi Govi, Vitali, D. (eds.), Il Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna, Imola, 1982, p.209; Dalton, O.M., A guide to the Early Christian and Byzantine Antiquities, London, 1903, p.20, fig.15; Bailey, D.M., A catalogue of the lamps in the British Museum, IV, Lamps of metal and stone, and lampstands, London, 1996, no.Q3834; for the general shape see Vermeule, C.C., Comstock, M.B., Sculpture in stone and bronze, Boston, 1988, no.113.
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LOT 0215
Byzantine Bronze Oil Lamp with Chain and Chi Rho
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000€4,640 - 6,960 (for guidance only)$5,400 - 8,100 (for guidance only)
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Byzantine Ceramic Oil Lamp Collection
6th-8th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £111
Comprising: a piriform lamp with a band of stylised quadrupeds surrounding the large filler hole, ribbed handle; a discoid lamp with raised linear decoration, wheel motif to base. 195 grams total, 9.6-10.1 cm
with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland. -
Byzantine Period Terracotta Oil Lamp
Circa 5th-7th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Slipper-type with a wide nozzle and a handle at the rear, discus with a wreath surrounding the filler hole, and a low basal ring. 86.3 grams, 10.1 cm
From the collection of a Yorkshire, UK gentleman, items collected in the Holy Land in the 1960s. -
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Byzantine Bronze Oil Lamp
6th-7th century A.D.Estimate: £500 - 700 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £270
Comprising: a squat body and large nozzle with shallow socketed rim, hinged lid to filler-hole with striped pattern, handle formed with lobed cross and loop to rear, annular foot. 376 grams, 13.7 cm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
The great success of this type of lamp in the Eastern Roman Empire brought about the establishment of several production centres, as can be confirmed by the frequent appearance of some of the details, e.g., the shape of the lid or of the cross and the length of the spout. Despite their wide distribution across Asia Minor, Greece and the Balkan Peninsula, these lamps also spread throughout Syria and reached Egypt, Morocco and even central Europe.
