Details

LOT 1150

Byzantine Terracotta Oil Lamp with Cross and Birds

HOLY LAND, CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

4 in. (142 grams, 10 cm).

Large lamp with high pointed body, a partial knob handle and a small filling hole outlined by a ridge; another ridge extending toward the wick-hole, creating a 'channel' decorated with a line; rim divided into two bands, the outer one filled with tondo with birds, the inner one decorated with a stylised cross and geometric pattern on the nozzle. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the collection of Mr W.A. Stewart, Director of School of Arts and Crafts, Cairo, 1919-1929.
Acquired Christie's, London, Antiquities, Works of Art and Important Renaissance Bronzes, Plaquettes and Limoges Enamels, 8 July 1981, no.126 (part).
From a private Wiltshire, UK, collection.

Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Christie's catalogue page.

Literature

Cf. De Vincenz, A., 'Ceramic Vessels and Oil Lamps from the Burial Cave at 'En Lavan, Nahal Refa'im' in Atiqot 98, 2020, pp.102-122, fig.5-8, for the type.

Footnotes

This type of lamp is a precursor of the early Islamic channel-nozzle lamp, which has a tongue handle. The small knob handle indicates an earlier date, while the channel implies a later date. The lamp, in correspondence with similar lamps found in Israel, can be dated to the 6th-7th century A.D., belonging to the eastern Roman culture or even to the early Islamic period.