Description:

Rome, Imperial period, ca. 50 to 79 CE. In a word, elegant! A cast bronze oil lamp with an elongated body, an extended, splayed, and fluked nozzle spout, and a handle with a horse head finial emerging from a leafy wreath presenting a fine green patina.The filling hole is cut through the center of the smaller head, and a teardrop shaped opening marks the center of the main body. This was designed to accommodate a papyrus wick. The lamp has a flat pear-shaped base over which the weight of the lamp is concentrated. From the middle of the lamp's beautifully crafted sill the bronze rises to form the horse's curved neck culminating in the protome of a horse's head. A fabulous example with veristic detailing of the horse's features - those wide open eyes, nose with flaring nostrils, partially open mouth, laid back ears, and flowing mane. Size: 6" L x 3.875" W (15.2 cm x 9.8 cm)

The vast majority of ancient oil lamps were made from clay, and only the wealthy and elite members of society could afford luxurious bronze examples like this one, its beauty not only stemming from its material but also the elegant curved handle and the sensitively treated rendering of the horse.

Cf. D.M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum IV (1996), p. 41 Q 3674; pl. 49Q, no. 3674.

Provenance: ex-German private collection near Munich acquired between 1991 and 2005; Gorny & Mosch, December 2013

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#127487

  • Condition: Handle reattached. A few scuffs and minor casting flaws. Gorgeous green patina.

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February 15, 2018 8:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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