Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Erotic Scene

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

3 3/4 in. (64 grams, 95 mm).

Squat burnished pottery lamp with stub nozzle, high-relief scene of two lovers on a couch; maker's mark 'LMVNSVC' to the underside.

Provenance

From the collection of French archaeologist Suzanne Gozlan (1921-2022).

Literature

Cf. Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2017, figs.181-183, for similar.

Footnotes

The lamp belongs to the Bailey type B group ii (Loeschke type IV), usually dated from Tiberian to Trajanic times. Erotic lamps were particularly popular before the Christianisation of the Roman Empire. Roman sexuality differed considerably from later Christian European attitudes. Roman religion promoted sexuality as one of the fundamental aspects of prosperity for the entire state; individuals could turn to private religious practice, or even magic, to improve their erotic life or health and reproductive capacity; moreover, prostitution in ancient Rome was legal, public and widespread. Artistic subjects that today we would define without hesitation as pornography, were present among the art collections of the most respectable and high status Roman families.

CONDITION

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LOT 0118