Details

LOT 0884

Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Facing Bust

120-200 A.D.

4 1/4 in. (67 grams, 10.7 cm).

Ribbed loop handle to the rear, discus with a nude bust of a young woman, a garment folded over her left shoulder; the base with maker's mark 'MNOVIVSI', for M. Novius Iustus.

Provenance

Acquired on the European art market, 1980s.
English private collection.

Literature

See The Getty Museum, inv.no.83.AQ.377.205, for similar discus motif by a different maker in Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2017, no.292, p.204, type Loeschcke VIII; Bussière form D II 1.

Footnotes

The discus decors of these lamps are various: Diana, Dioscuri, Sol and Luna, Africa, Lares, and griffin; portraits of Domitian, Hadrian, male head, bust of a young man, bust of a young woman (our specimen), bust of a bearded old man, fisherman, and an aulete; scorpion, boar, and lion with crocodile; etc. They were an African production and not less than seven workshops have been individuated: M N O V I V, M N O V I V S T (our example), M N O V I V S T I, I V N I A L E X I, C C O R V R S, E X F N A / LV C C E I O R V M.