Details

LOT 0791

Roman Bronze Lamp with Theatrical Mask

1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.

5 1/4 in. (220 grams, 13.3 cm).

Nozzle with quasi-volutes, theatrical mask surrounding the central opening; ring-handle with palmette attachment; base moulded.

Provenance

Acquired from Weber, Kohl.
Ex private collection, Rhemish, Germany.
with Gorny & Mosch, 14 December 2010, lot 499.
Private collection, Europe.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.11800-206492.

Literature

Cf. Walters, H.B., Catalogue of the Greek and Roman lamps in the British Museum, London, 1914, no.1468, for the type.

Footnotes

The principal parts of a lamp were the body or reservoir which contained the oil (infundibulum); the flat circular top (discus) on which the design, if any, was placed, sometimes with an ornamented rim (margo), the nozzle, with a hole for the insertion of the wick (rostrum, nasus, myxus), the wick, known as ellydinium, the handle (ansa, manubrium).