Roman and Other Artefact Group

A clay lamp with rounded lug handle, shoulder with foliage in relief on each side, separated from the slightly concave discus by a ridge, which continues toward the round-tipped nozzle forming a wide channel between the discus and the wick hole; two equal-sized filling-holes at upper and lower part of the discus decorated with a lion running left, raised slightly convex base-ring with an additional inner ring. 163 grams, 13.5 cm



Acquired from a central London Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) member's gallery in 1990. From the estate of a Lancashire gentleman.

The present lamps seems to be molded in Terra Sigillata Africana (TSA) = African Red Slip (ARS) and can be related to Atlante types VI. The passage from lamps of Loeschcke type VIII in TSA with a heart-shaped nozzle ( = Atlante form I) to the channelled so-called Christian lamps ( = Atlante forms VIII and X, or Hayes types I and II) was progressively achieved by three factors: the transformation of the initially circular discus into an oval shape, the elongation of the nozzle, and the increased width and length of the channel.

A pale green lentoid glass flask with tubular neck and everted rim; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 252 grams, 22 cm high (481 grams total, 31.5 cm high including stand)



French collection, 1960s-early 2000s. From an important Paris gallery, France.

A sardonyx intaglio of a bird pecking at a worm, set into a Georgian gold finger ring with openwork tendril detailing to the hoop, cupped bezel with rosette to the underside. 3.13 grams, 25.68 mm overall, 18.43 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N 1/2, USA 6 3/4, Europe 14.35, Japan 13)



UK private collection. with Bertolami Fine Art, London, 22 April 2022, lot 79. English private collection.