Details

LOT 0162

Late Roman Bronze Oil Lamp with Gryphon Handle and Stand

5TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

18 1/2 in. (4.21 kg, 47 cm high).

Comprising a rounded lamp with carinated body and elongated nozzle emerging from a lotus flower, a dolphin perching on top of one of the petals, the nozzle formed as an eight-pointed star with projecting knobs; a raised Chi Rho symbol to both sides of the body and a hinged lid to the top; the upcurving handle formed as a gryphon head emerging from the stem of a lotus flower, the gryphon holding a round object in its open beak, the mane formed of four spikes topped with spheres, carrying a Chi Rho topped with a dove between its ears; later modified to mount on a balustered tripod stand with lion's paw feet, reel-shaped drip tray and a tapering pricket to accept the lamp.

Provenance

German art market.
European private collection, 1970s-early 2000s.
Acquired from the above; thence by descent.
Private collection, London, UK.

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.12347-225589.

Literature

Cf. Ross, M., Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, I: Metalwork, Ceramics, Glass, Glyptics, Paintings, Washington D.C., 1962, pl.XXV, no.30; Comstock, M.B. (ed.), Romans and Barbarians, Boston, 1976, p.177, no.196, similar example with dolphin; Buckton, D. (ed.), Byzantium, the Treasures of Byzantine Art and Culture from British Collections, London, 1994, pp.108-9, no.119, for similar type of stand; Bailey, D.M., A catalogue of the lamps in the British Museum, IV, Lamps of metal and stone, and lampstands, London, 1996, no.Q3831, for near identical specimen but without a dolphin, and for another similar Q3832.