Signed Terracotta Oil Lamp - Scallop Shell
Ancient Roman, circa 1st- 2nd Century AD
Attractive and well crafted mold-made glazed terracotta oil lamp of circular design. The body has a short rounded and heart-shaped spout, and the shoulder is set off from the body with molded grooves. The recessed central discus portrays a scallop shell with central filling hole. At the rear is a ring handle and on the bottom is an impressed signature/makers mark in the shape of a sandal within two circles. Intact and well preserved with some surface deposits.
For lamps of similar shape see Catalog of Lamps in the British Museum, III series of lamps excavated in Ephesus and now in the British Museum (Q3041-Q3067 and others).
Provenance: ex Midwestern private collection, acquired in Turkey c 1964.
Terracotta oil lamps were the primary means of artificial lighting in the villas, palaces and shops of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires. They were usually filled with olive oil and held a wick. Linen was the most often used wick material.
Length: 3 7/8 inches
