Lighting DevicesRoman1st century BCE

Lamp

100 BCE-1 CE

Description

Mold-made. Pinkish-buff clay with shiny brick-red slip (soapy feel). Thick small ring base. Underbody and rim covered with small, raised dots in concentric rows. Reservoir donut-shaped, deep compared to width. High, rounded ridge at top of rim. Depressed central discus with central perforation set off by a wide raised band. Two smoothed lugs on opposite sides of body, both chipped. Vertical loop handle decorated with two vertical grooves. Long nozzle, as deep as the reservoir, with flat top, flaring ends, and oblong wick hole. Small air hole on nozzle just outside the rim. Prominent traces of burning around wick hole: slip has turned a dark brownish-black in that area.

Classification

Lighting Devices

Technique

Mold-made

Medium

Terracotta with red slip

Culture

Roman

Period

Roman Republican period, Late, to Early Imperial

Century

1st century BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

5.3 x 7.5 x 10.8 cm (2 1/16 x 2 15/16 x 4 1/4 in.)

Provenance

Part of the original 1943 McDaniel gift to the Classics Department. A lamp referred to as "Roman Red-glaze Barbotine Lamp." is listed on a non-comprehensive list of McDaniel objects dated April 30, 1947.