Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Face

LATE 2ND CENTURY B.C.-EARLY 1ST CENTURY A.D.

4 1/2 in. (87.6 grams, 11.6 cm).

Hollow-formed with a fan-shaped headdress for the handle, pierced disc plaque to the brow, nozzle beneath the neck; female bust with piled tresses; a double ring and 'YOP' maker's mark to the base.

Provenance

Acquired 1960s-1990s.
From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

Literature

See Bémont, C., Lampes en Terre Cuite Antiques, Paris, 2007, for discussion; for the typology and similar specimens see Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2017, p.440, nos.602-603.

Footnotes

Lamps with figurines first appear in the Hellenistic period, possibly originating in Athens. Found in all parts of the Mediterranean
basin, they were particularly popular during the first and second centuries A.D. For the most part no exact parallels are found in the published literature, thus their dating is often conjectural, based mainly on the shape of the nozzle.

CONDITION

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LOT 0680