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Details
LOT 0812
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Cybele Riding a Lion
2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.
4 3/4 in. (172 grams, 12 cm).
Lug handle to the rear, shallow discus with filling holes and a low-relief image of goddess Cybele riding on her frequent companion, a lion.
Provenance
Acquired on the European art market, 1980s.
English private collection.
Literature
See The Getty Museum, inv.no.83.AK.438.418, for similar in Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2017, no.358, p.252, type Loeschcke VIII; Bussière form D IX.
Footnotes
This lamp belongs to the group of Provincial African lamps with a plain shoulder and a heart-shaped nozzle. The shoulder form of the lamps (irrespective of African, Italic, or eastern place of manufacture or origin) varies widely. Some of them had undecorated shoulders, like our example. Discus decors include mythology, amphitheatre, daily life, animals (our example), geometric patterns and plain discus.
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