Greek Terracotta Oil Lamp with Handle

$246.42

An ancient Greek terracotta oil lamp with a predominant horizontal loop handle. The lamp features a large circular and shallow body, widely open due to a large filling hole,. The walls of the bowl curve inwards into an outward-sloping shoulder. The nozzle tapers slightly at the end and features a substantial burn hole. The base is flat and typical undefined.

Date: Circa 6th-5th century BC
Provenance: From a private Preston, Lancashire collection, RB, who amassed a collection of over 200 lamps, the majority acquired via a London A.D.A member gallery.
Condition: Very fine condition. Handle intact. Chip to the nozzle rim. Some natural encrustation.

SOLD

SKU: AH-953 Category:

This type of lamp was popular from the 6th to 4th centuries BC and can be categorised as Broneer type I after the lychnologist Oscar Broneer. In Antiquity, a lamp was originally called a ‘lychnus‘, from the Greek ‘λυχνος’, Pottery oil lamps could be made in three different ways: handmade, wheel made, or by mould. Lamps such as this were wheel-made and so decoration tended to be minimal, their design intended to be functional rather than decorative. Lamps continue to be made in this way until the invention of the mould – which allowed for greater creativity amongst lamp makers.

Weight 267.7 g
Dimensions L 17.5 x W 11.5 x H 4.7 cm
Culture

Pottery and Porcelain

Region

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