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LOT 0769
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Floral Motif
5TH CENTURY A.D.
4 1/2 in. (173 grams, 11.5 cm).
Grooved lug handle to rear, discus with two filling holes and a central rosette motif, foliate border to the shoulder; low basal ring and maker's mark 'E'.
ProvenanceAcquired on the European art market, 1980s.
English private collection.
Cf. Bussière, J., Lindros Wohl, B., Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 2017, no.526, for the type (late lamps from Asia Minor).
FootnotesMany lamps of this category (late lamps of Asia Minor types, sometimes just called 'late Ephesian lamps' but diffused in all of the Roman Levant) were discovered in the Seven Sleepers Cemetery at Ephesus. These lamp types have either a circular or an oval elongated body that is sharply carinated, with protruding nozzle. The shoulders are outward sloping and offer a variety of characteristic decorations in both relief and sunken patterns: rows of globules, slanted radiating grooves, ovolos, vine-tendrils and grapes, tongues or petals, and concentric rings.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Redware Pottery Sherd with Achilles and Thetis
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From the upper part of a vessel, displaying a frieze of profile images and figural scenes from Graeco-Roman mythology: a musician in late Roman garments playing a harp (Orpheus?), a seated woman weaving with a distaff in her hand (Penelope?), a kneeling naked woman imploring a naked warrior fighting with shield and spear (Achilles and Thetis?). 202 grams, 18 cm
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