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LOT 0129
Late Roman Terracotta Lamp with Chi Rho
LATE 5TH-EARLY 6TH CENTURY A.D.
5 1/2 in. (173 grams, 13.9 cm).
Recessed discus with two filler holes flanking a low-relief letter rho with cruciform stave, lozenge detailing; band of concentric circles and arrowheads on the rim, lug handle and a low basal ring.
ProvenancePrivate collection, acquired in 1994; thence by descent.
LiteratureFor these lamps (Atlante type X; Hayes type II) cf. Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2017, p.352ff., for the type.
FootnotesThe so-called Christian lamps in Terra Sigillata Africana (TSA) have been classified by Hayes into two major types, I and II. Lamps of Hayes types I and II, initially produced in Tunisia only, were broadly exported, then imitated throughout the Roman Empire for three centuries; consequently, they are extremely numerous.
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Roman Terracotta Bullae, Tesserae or Token Group
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A mixed group of ceramic bullae, tesserae or theatre tokens bearing low-relief motifs, mainly consisting of profile busts of deities. 31 grams total, 14-23 mm
From the private collection of a European gentleman (1942-2024), formed since the 1970s.
The term 'tessera' was used in Roman times to convey the Greek term σύμβολον (token). Small tiles are known as tokens, often shaped like coins, made of metal (copper, lead, iron), clay, bone, wood, or glass, stamped as well as engraved. The tokens, however, are not exclusively coin-shaped, as the Latin term 'tessera' suggests by etymologically referring to a square or at least a four-sided shape and confirmed in several cases by material remains of the past. Tokens and tesserae seem to have been used both in Athens and Rome for the distribution of goods. According to written sources, the term token is identified with credentials of the official authorities. They have also been interpreted as tokens of identity, as entrance tickets to theatre performances, tribunals or assemblies of citizens, archival material of seal engraving, as pawns in games, Charon’s obols and even as amulets. -
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