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LOT 0944
Roman Buffware Oil Lamp with Gladiator
2ND CENTURY A.D.
4 1/8 in. (97 grams, 10.5 cm).
Mould made, solid round handle with two circles, flat shoulder with a shallow row of ovolo motifs, separated from the discus by two shallow circular grooves; side central filling-hole and small air hole on the lower field of discus, decorated with a gladiator raising his right hand; heart-shaped nozzle, base-ring marked by radiating lines. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
See Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2017, nos.360 and ff., p.254ff., especially nos.371-372.
FootnotesThe lamp seems to belong to the Bussiere form DX1, maybe variant a and c. This form groups together lamps with a plain shoulder and a heart-shaped nozzle. In an early variant, D IX 1, the upper curves of the ‘heart’ are nearly on a horizontal level. This is the case for all the African and Italic examples in the Getty collection. Scenes of circus and gladiators are very popular.
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2nd century B.C.-1st century A.D.Estimate: £3,500 - 4,500 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £1,850
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Large Late Roman Sigma-Shaped Marble Offering Table Top
Eastern Mediterranean, 4th-6th century A.D.Estimate: £10,000 - 14,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £2,778
Semi-circular with raised and slightly everted edge, the top with a recessed area with a funnel-shaped outlet; for votive offerings within a church; restored. 84.5 kg including backplate, 91 cm wide
In general good condition, re-assembled.
Acquired in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Ex David Read collection. 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.12080-214035.
Marble tables such as the present example are called in archaeological terms sigma tables, in consideration of their resemblance to the Greek letter sigma. Sigma-shaped tables appeared in the banquet halls at the end of the 4th century and within Christian buildings from the following century. Most of the undecorated slabs were used as liturgical table tops for feasts to honour the deceased. This commemorative practice was known throughout the late Roman world in west and east, where it continued in the daily life of the citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire. In ecclesiastical settings, circular and sigma-shaped tables were used to collect offerings or for celebrating the agape, more generally as secondary furniture, while the rectangular form was preferred for use as an altar.
