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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2007.104.10
Title
Lamp with Animal Combat Scene
Classification
Lighting Devices
Work Type
lighting device
Date
175-225 CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Unidentified Site
Period
Roman Imperial period, Middle
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/175170

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta
Technique
Mold-made
Dimensions
3.6 x 6.6 x 9.2 cm (1 7/16 x 2 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Walton Brooks McDaniel, New Jersey (?-1943/46) gift; to the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, (1943/46-2012) transfer; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 2007.

Note: Walton Brooks McDaniel gave a portion of his collection to the Department of the Classics in 1943 and the rest in 1946. The Collection is named for his late wife, Alice Corinne McDaniel.


Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University
Accession Year
2007
Object Number
2007.104.10
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Terracotta oil lamp: heart-shaped nozzle with some charring. Slight ring base surrounded by two grooves. Curved rim decorated with molded wreath or a garland of bundled foliage tied at intervals. Low, projecting vertical pierced handle, in the rear, with grooves. The shallow central discus is decorated with molded relief of a lion attacking a bull. Stamp reading LCAESAE on the bottom.

Orange buff fabric with traces of red-orange slip.

Classification: D. Bailey, A catalogue of the lamps in the British Museum vol. II (British Museum Publications, 1988), Type Q.

Commentary
An oil lamp is a lighting device, which is fueled by oil. Roman lamps are usually made of either terracotta or bronze and are mold-made. Typically, the body is round and closed on top and there is a nozzle with a pick. Terracotta lamps are usually decorated with a wide variety of motifs. In houses, lamps may have stood on the top of a candelabrum (See: 1960.482) to light a room.

The stamp found on the bottom of this lamp refers to the lampmaker Lucius Caecilius Saecularis who was active in central Italy during the mid-second and early third centuries CE (1).

Notes:
1. For the stamp and lampmaker, see D. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum, vol. II (British Museum Publications, 1988), p. 91-92.

Subjects and Contexts

  • Roman Domestic Art

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu