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LOT 0654
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Leaping Ibex
2ND CENTURY A.D.
4 1/8 in. (110 grams, 10.5 cm).
With a lug handle to the rear, discus with a leaping long-horned ibex within a concentric circle border; concentric circles to base; repaired.
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.402, Loeschcke VIII; Bussière form D IX 2b.
FootnotesThis 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.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Roman Bronze Reclining Hercules Statuette
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Hollow-formed figure of Hercules resting with his weight on his left arm, cradling his club; lionskin mantle drawn over his head and covering his shoulders, back and thighs; right arm resting on his right thigh, holding a corner of the mantle; scaphoid base with attachment holes; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 4.28 kg total, 25 cm wide including stand
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
This bronze was probably a chariot decoration. Hercules is represented here in mature age, bearded and with a cap and body covered by the skin of the Nemean Lion, killed in the first of his labours. This kind of image of Hercules was mainly widespread in the second to third century A.D., when emperors like Commodus and Maximianus Herculius identified themselves as the new Hercules at the top of the Roman state. -
Roman Terracotta Oil Lamp with Lion
2nd-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Loop handle to the rear, low discus with an advancing lion with its head turned to the right, hatched decoration on the shoulder; concentric circles to the base. 108 grams, 11.2 cm
Acquired on the European art market, 1980s. English private collection.
This lamp belongs to the group of Provincial African lamps with a plain shoulder and a heart-shaped nozzle. Usually they are classified as D IX, but Italic and African variants of D X are very similar and have the shoulders with closely spaced outward-slanted rays, separated from discus by two circular grooves, here hardly visible. -
Roman Piriform Glass Flask
1st century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
An iridescent glass unguentarium with piriform body, tubular neck with everted rolled rim. 6.65 grams, 69 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection.
