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]

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.

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.

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.