Roman, Cypriot terracotta oil lamp
Creators: name: Museum, Centre for Ancient Cultures
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Archaeology of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Levant
Heritage, archive and museum studies not elsewhere classified
Archaeology not elsewhere classified
Ceramics
Classical Greek and Roman history
Other history, heritage and archaeology not elsewhere classified

description: Early Imperial mold-made ceramic vessel without handle and body with closed shape and curved sides. The discus of the lamp shows the hunter Actaeon being torn apart by his own dog on the left with a filling hole between his legs, to lower centre; he leans back holding a spear in left hand, right arm raising a club, ready to strike the hound leaping up against his right leg; he is nude except for drapery caught around his left arm; short horns are developing on his forehead. A band of concentric lines and grooves towards edge. Volutes flanking a short canal nozzle, a decorated concave discus and one filling hole. Within incised base ring, slightly concave base. The iconic motif from Greek mythology, tells that the hero Actaeon somehow caused the wrath of goddess Artemis, eventually leading to his death with the hunter that became the hunted. Oil lamps were used in ancient times to light homes at night. They were fueled by fish oil, animal oil and fat but mainly by vegetable (olive) oil. A woven fibrous wick was placed in the hole at the tip of the lamp to burn the oil. Stylistic remarks: Loeschcke Type 4; Bailey B group ii. Object number: 127.061. Date: ca. 40-100 A.D. Parallels: extremely similar examples Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum 83.AQ.377.83; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 74.51.2031; London, British Museum 1980,1001.13; Köln, Römisch-Germanisches Museum W 3051; Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, acc. no. 25988, cat. no. 154496-B; Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen (inv. unknown). References: Myres, J. L., <em>Handbook of the Cesnola Colle</em> <em>ction of Antiquities from Cyprus</em>, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1914; Loeschcke, S., <em>Lampen aus Vindonissa: Ein Betrag zur Geschichte von Vindonissa und des antiken Beleuchtungswesens</em>. Zurich, 1919, no. 718, pl. XV (fr.); Waagé, F. O., “Lamps.” In <em>The Excavations of 1937 to 1939</em>, pp. 55–82. Vol. 3 of Antioch-on-the-Orontes, ed. R. Stillwell. Princeton, NJ, 1941, n. 104; Ponsich, M., <em>Les Lampes romaines en terre cuite de Maurétanie Tingitane</em>. Rabat, 1961, n. 58; Bailey, D. M., <em>Lamps in the Victoria and Albert Museum</em>, Gleerup, Lund, 1965, N. 30, P. 31; Bailey, D. M., <em>Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum</em>, BMP, London, 1975-1996, Q2382; Sapelli, M., <em>Lucerne fittili delle civiche raccolte archeologiche: Rassegna di studi del Civico Museo Archeologico e del Civico Gabinetto Numismatico di Milano</em>, suppl. 2. Milan, 1979, n. 89; Bailey, D. M., <em>Roman Lamps Made in Italy. Vol. 2 of A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum</em>. London, 1980, Q 771; Rivet, L., <em>Lampes antiques du Golfe de Fos</em>. Aix-en-Provence, 2003, n. 195; Lightfoot, C. S., <em>The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Terracotta Oil Lamps</em>, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. <br> Photo by Steve Morton