Lamp

Lamp

TERRACOTTA

Buff clay, orange and brown slip. Heavily restored. Cracks through discus from top left to air hole to left and right of nozzle, top right to centre right, through body, across base to underneath nozzle. Orange slip worn on shoulder, discus and around wick hole, with little remaining on handle, body, base and under nozzle. Remnants of brown slip occur in the grooves of the discus rim and figure, nozzle, on the handle, the base and areas on the body. Large chips on lower back of handle ridge. Carbon stains around the wick hole and rounded end of nozzle. A deep, broad, circular body with plain, narrow shoulders gently slopes up to the two grooves surrounding the deep, circular, concave discus. Top of deep, short, rounded nozzle with large, circular wick hole, defined from the shoulder by a lateral groove with an impressed dot on each end and in the middle. Pierced loop-shaped handle, attached vertically to the back of the body. Two impressed grooves on top of handle joining outer groove of discus, and handle ridge ends near flat, raised base. Possibly molded from one generation copy of original. [ A North African version of a Italian type]. Loeschcke TypeVIII or Bailey Type P, group i. Loeschcke shoulder-form VIb.

Function:
A light source or a funerary or votive offering.

Decoration:
Rim: plain shoulder.
Discus: one medium hole off-centre, below figure, Stylised relief scene of cavalryman riding a galloping horse to the left, wearing armour and carrying a round shield on his left arm.
Base: impresed ring and dot placed centrally within base.

Purchased from B. A. Seaby Ltd, London, 1983.

AD 100 - 200

83.049