SACRED SCENTS AND FLAMES FROM ANCIENT WORLD

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Introduction

At the dawn of humanity, man was a “fire-gatherer�. He had to wait patiently for fire to occur naturally, as a result of storms and lightning strikes, and hope that it would set ablaze an old tree or a dry shrub. Only then could he finally seize the vital element for heating, cooking and especially lighting, while repelling wild beasts. The tribe jealously watched over this gift of the gods, keeping it burning for as long as possible, guarding it day and night.

Letting the fire go out meant tragedy: confronted with the risks and perils of the natural world, man was trapped again in a fate that he could no longer control, in which cold weather, disease and wild animals were likely to bring death at any time.

For mankind, in a way, it was only by managing to tame fire, putting an end to his dependence on the elements, that the primitive human really became a human being, definitively gaining superiority over nature and over the rest of the animal kingdom. After thousands of years of unsuccessful attempts, man was finally able to start a fire: by striking, it came from a stone; through friction, it came from a piece of wood.

As magisterially enunciated by James George Frazer, one of the founding fathers of modern anthropology, in his Myths of the Origin of Fire, the tens of millennia of insecurity and the gift of creating fire newly granted to mankind left indelible traces in the collective subconscious, on all continents and in all civilizations.

The final victory of man over this element, which only the gods would allow, was celebrated by many myths, like that of Prometheus in the Greek world (No. 14). Being able to start a fire when needed was a very important act seen as essential and sacred, magical and initiatory, more than technical.

Various religions therefore commemorated the epoch of the fire-gatherers by worshiping the eternal, divine flame, which was not born of mortals and which, if it were to die, would mean the imminent end of the world.

The spiritual life of the great civilizations all include, at the center of their pantheons, deities embodying the original fire, whose temples have a divine flame that humans cannot relight with their impure hands and that has to be constantly fed. From the dimmest ancient times, even the most powerful kings had to pay a tribute to the flame, as perfectly illustrated on a fragment of a Near Eastern stele (No. 8).

In the Orient, the god Ahura Mazda was revered; south of the Mediterranean, it was Baal (or Baal-Moloch); in Europe, Vesta was at the very origin of the existence and power of Rome.

This also holds true for monotheistic religions. In the Jewish synagogues, the Ner Tamid (perpetual flame) reminds all believers throughout the Diaspora of the original light of the central lamp of the menorah that stood above the Ark of the Covenant in Solomon’s Temple (No. 58, No. 59, No. 60, No. 72, No. 73 and No. 74); it personifies the presence of God in Israel, while also symbolizing the power of the divine law.

Among the founding rites of the Christian world is the sacred fire, which springs from the depths of the Holy Sepulcher and enables all the lights of the worshipers to be turned on; in this regard, all churches have an eternal lamp, which should never be extinguished and whose flame is used to light the other lamps.

The tradition of the eternal, divine flame belonged to the sacred sanctuaries of the original Islam, but only a few regions have retained the custom, which is still practiced today in Iran and Central Asia only, in a specific building. This is the Char Taq, a small square building with four arches intended to house the sacred fire. This typically Zoroastrian traditional structure was inspired by the Zoroastrian fire temples (No. 20 and No. 21). In the Muslim version, the building is no longer the location for a hearth, but for a sacred lamp.

Along with the eternal flame, fire quickly became the central liturgical purpose in all religions. The lighting and the use of fire embody the archetypal votive gesture, the link, both real and metaphysical, which allows mankind to interact with the divine, the visible materialization of faith. This is attested by the Anatolian plaque dedicated to a goddess, which would have held both offerings and a lamp, as evidenced by the burn marks (No. 4).

From time immemorial, offerings to the gods were thrown into the fire (No. 13). The victuals or the meals prepared by men thus joined their heavenly recipient through combustion, a ritual gesture culminating in the ultimate sacrifice, in which the slaughtered animal was offered to the consecrated flames. The moments immediately preceding this crowning expression of the ancient faith were immortalized on a Roman silver dish (No. 57), where the young priest drags a goat that he is about to slaughter towards the flames on the altar.

With the Neolithic revolution, agriculture and trade flourished. Thus appeared two other elements in the religious services, accompanying the sacred flame during ceremonies: incense and wine.

As of the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C., an aromatic resin, incense, gradually spread throughout the ancient East and Asia, to finally conquer the world over the centuries. The enthusiasm for incense among the Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Chinese nobles and priests led to the development of the oldest intercontinental trade routes, long before those for silk, amber or pepper. By sea, then by land thanks to the domestication of the camel, the transportation of incense, often more expensive than gold, made the fortune of transporters and of traders and enriched the major centers of both port and inland transit.

In fact, the two varieties of shrubs providing the precious secretion only grow in two limited geographical areas.

The species growing in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and in Somalia therefore supplied the Near East, then the Mediterranean basin and finally Europe. The other, growing in northern India and Tibet, was exported to China, Central Asia and gradually throughout the Far East.

Thanks to its subtle and potent essence, incense quickly became the pivotal element in the liturgical ceremonies of all religions, as attested by the number and quality of the censers used in the Mesopotamian (No. 3 and No. 5), Egyptian, Phoenician (No. 7), Cypriot (No. 12), Persian (No. 9) and Etruscan (No. 11) civilizations in the West, in India and China (No. 18) in the East, beautiful artifacts richly adorned and intended to occupy a central place in the sanctuaries.

This resin with amazing properties from mystical lands was considered as a divine gift, to the extent that it later became part of the founding myths of the great monotheistic religions: Yahweh describes to Moses its specific use in the Old Testament; the three Magi offered frankincense, gold and myrrh to the newborn Jesus; although the founding texts of the Muslim religion do not necessarily require the use of incense, which was apparently reserved for the elite (No. 80 and No. 81), its presence is attested from the early centuries of Islam in the most important places of worship, including the mosques of Mecca.

Given its operating mode, but also its symbolic nature, incense is inextricably linked to fire and flame, as perfectly demonstrated by the Egyptian lamp in the form of a censer (No. 82) and as evidenced by its designation through the ages. The Romans called it thymiama, a term derived from two Greek roots meaning both perfumed offering and ritual sacrifice poured into the fire, while the current name of incense comes from the medieval Latin incensum, past participle of the verb incendere, meaning to ignite, to burn.

Since the birth of agriculture, the vineyard and wine have been an integral part of the lives of the most advanced societies, becoming both a political and a religious symbol. Wine fast became a favorite offering that had to be regularly provided to the gods, but also to the dead and to the living, who consumed it in many rituals. The Greek world saw the birth of Dionysus, who combined the principal qualities of several archaic deities: the young man with a drinking vessel in his hand, capable of commanding wild beasts and of associating with beautiful women and hybrid beings (No. 17), was not only the god of wine and merry-making, but also of the mysteries, the pursuit of happiness, fertility and fecundity. His cult rapidly spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and beyond, since objects with Dionysian (or bacchanalian) representations were discovered in places as far away as India and western China.

The kernos, a Near Eastern ritual vessel (No. 61), was as unique as it was spectacular, since it included all the elements of divine worship: it could contain the offerings to the deity, while the flames springing from its crown of lighted lamps carried the messages of the believers.

Wine was far from being confined to the pagan world; devoid of its mysteries and sensual values, it became one of the founding myths of Judaism, that of the explorers of Canaan, who returned from Israel with a bunch of grapes

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so big that they could hardly carry it; thereby, grapes and wine became the symbols of the divine wealth of the Promised Land (No. 48 and No. 59). For the Christians, wine was nothing less than the blood of Christ shed for the salvation of their souls. Only Islam outlawed the drink, which caused too much havoc among the caravan drivers and embodied, for the Prophet, the debauchery and decadence of the Judeo-Christian urban societies.

In the 3rd millennium B.C., in the Near East, the Mesopotamian civilizations discovered the fuel properties of bitumen and castor oil. A little later, in the southern Mediterranean, olive oil seduced by its extraordinary capacity for lighting. These fuels led to a technological revolution that would only be supplanted by electricity. Indeed, the liquid consistency of oils and bitumen did not allow the insertion of a solid wick, which was the case with animal fats. Thus, the lamp was born, in the conventional sense of the term, namely the ingenious combination of a reservoir containing fuel and of a nozzle for the wick.

This discovery was of great significance and, in the following centuries, in the wealthy societies, lamps replaced the hearth for domestic lighting. Consequently, in the religious sphere, the symbolic interpretation slowly shifted from the fire to the flame, from the hearth to the lamp.

The outstanding discoveries made in the 1930s at Ur allow us to better understand the origin of one of one of the most useful vessels ever invented. The first lamps were merely the seashells of marine mollusks (No. 1).

A hole was pierced in the upper shell, to enable the introduction of the fuel, while the opening was enlarged to easily place the wick. Naturally waterproof, these animal remains, freely available on the beaches of certain regions, made the perfect natural lamp.

That was until the creative spirit of the artists and the powerful people of the time became involved, opening the way to faithful copies of these shells, made of turned clay, but also of copper, of silver and even of alabaster (No. 2).

These complex and expensive lamps were replaced, as of the 1st millennium B.C., by a standard shape, easy to produce, whose invention is derived from a simple, highly relevant modification of an existing object, the saucer, which only required to be pinched on the rim before the firing process, so as to position the wick (No. 6).

The success of this new creation was such that this type of lamp, thought to have been invented by the Phoenicians, survived in the southern and western Mediterranean basin until the fall of Carthage. Moreover, these lamps gradually conquered the entire Mediterranean, just as trade expanded initially with the Phoenicians and later with the Carthaginians.

This Phoenician invention did not leave the Greek world indifferent, with its excellence in the production of ceramics already well known far beyond its sphere of influence. In the Archaic period, the craftsmen in the major centers such as Athens and Corinth, as well as those in Asia Minor, therefore began to produce, develop and refine their oil lamps, which were essential items in the daily life of urban societies. One may note the important technical innovations intended to improve the comfort of the user.

The rim of the lamp gradually began to gain in height and then a shoulder surmounted it. At the same time, the nozzle became a full component. By its length, it was increasingly separated from the body and its upper surface was covered, except for the wick hole. All these modifications prevented oil spillage when the lamp was transported and also made it possible to safely increase the number of nozzles, as in the case of the sanctuary lamps (No. 15), which gradually replaced the ancient stone lamps (No. 10) in the places of worship.

In order to further facilitate the mobility of lamps, a number of techniques were adopted, such as a horizontal ribbon handle, placed at the rear of the lamp (No. 16), and a lateral tenon, or lug, also known as a thumb piece, providing a better grip of the object. Other innovations, seemingly trifling, improved the ease of use and storage of the artifact. The omphalos, a sort of cylindrical opening in the middle of the body, served to better direct the oil to the wick and to avoid an accumulation of the residues inside the lamp.

Last but not least, the most significant contribution of the Greek ceramists to the evolution of lamps is certainly glaze. The need to “paint� lamps before the firing process originally had a simple utilitarian purpose, to make the lamp impermeable and thus to prevent oil from seeping through the clay and staining the furniture on which it was placed. The ceramists, artists at heart, quickly combined beauty with utility; coated with a black glaze, their lamps gained a new esthetic and can be compared with the finest ceramics and vases, definitively abandoning the original and austere appearance of vessels made of terracotta.

In the course of the 3rd century B.C., presumably in one of the major ceramic centers of Asia Minor, lamp manufacturers adopted the molding technique. This technique, already widespread in the making of terracotta statuettes, had far-reaching consequences for lamp production in the Mediterranean basin and beyond.

The molding technique, which allowed the production of massive amounts of high-quality lamps in record time and with a small workforce, compared to the ancient turning technique, also gave better value for money and cultivated interest in exporting such artifacts. Production centers with an easy access to clay deposits therefore reoriented their lamp production towards more and more distant markets.

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At the beginning, this phenomenon mainly concerned the areas around the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. Thereafter, the continued expansion of Rome helped to create a somewhat globalized environment.

Long-distance trade, previously reserved for luxury goods, bloomed and extended to everyday items.

Nevertheless, the advent of lamp molding in no way represented merely an economic added value. It also gave the artifact new advantages: first and foremost, obtaining an entirely closed upper body, except for the filling hole, and adorning both it and the nozzle with decorations in relief further emphasized the esthetic value of the artifact.

The workshops of central Italy took full advantage of this fresh opportunity. The upper body, provided from that moment on with a large circular discus, became a canvas for artistic creation. On these discuses, the craftsmen represented infinitely diverse scenes in relief.

From the 1st to the 6th century A.D., lamps became an invaluable source of information about how people lived their lives from day to day, a unique fact in the history of lighting. Indeed, terracotta lamps, accessible to the vast majority of people, since they cost the equivalent of an agricultural worker’s half-hour of income, were the only utilitarian objects whose iconography enables us to reconstruct the tastes and preferences of all classes in Roman society. Furthermore, these representations could be so realistic that they delivered highly important information, like the naval ship presenting all the technical features revealed by the written sources (No. 27).

The peak of artistic creativity in the production of lamps can be located between the Augustan period and the late Antonine dynasty in the western Mediterranean, while the Roman East and especially the large Aegean and Asia Minor centers continued until late Classical antiquity.

Throughout the 1st century A.D., central Italian workshops set the tone, soon followed by North African and Asia Minor workshops, giving the Empire repertories that were as large as they were innovative. All things sacred constituted the principal theme, with the major deities of the Roman pantheon portrayed full length or in bust form (No. 29 and No. 40), then all the assimilated foreign gods (No. 28); the Isiac cults, in particular, were often represented (No. 35). Scenes from precise mythological episodes were also much appreciated (No. 37 and No. 38).

Among the most popular subjects depicting daily life commissioned at the time, circus games (No. 42) and gladiatorial images (No. 24 and No. 26) had the greatest success, followed by theatrical and musical scenes, not to mention erotic representations.

More rarely, scenes from poetry and other literature were illustrated on the lamp discuses (No. 54). Then again, a particularly favored field was that linked to the ancient Roman passion for nature. Hunting scenes, bucolic snapshot views (No. 25 and No. 53) and terrestrial and marine animals from all parts of the Empire adorned a large number of lamps (No. 30 and No. 35).

In a different register, lamps confirmed that the sociological concept of “middle class�, so rarely applicable to pre-modern civilizations, was actually rather relevant in urban areas as of the first two centuries of the Imperial period. Indeed, terracotta lamps in relief were designed precisely for such a clientele, occupying a niche between the conventional lucernae affordable to everyone and the rare and expensive bronze lamps, by which their shape was clearly inspired.

Gladiator helmets, fruit, animals, theater masks, feet (No. 49) and satyr heads (No. 51) were the most popular themes for these lamps showing great technical skills. In Egypt, potters pushed their artistic creation to its pinnacle, developing a brilliant symbiosis, merging the statuette and the lamp (No. 22, No. 47 and No. 52).

During the golden Imperial age, several terracotta lamps of conventional shape, without competing with the lamps in relief, tended to imitate the details of the luxury lamps made of metal. There was thus a craze for reflector handles, intended to embellish the rear of the lamps and to propose an additional iconographic register (No. 36, No. 41 and No. 72). Rarer, the examples coated with a green lead glaze misled even the most experienced observers because they perfectly imitated their bronze counterparts (No. 31).

The Mediterranean elite, meanwhile, was accustomed from the time of Alexander to adorning its reception rooms with tall candelabra (No. 55) that supported bronze lamps. This was a luxury, as evidenced by the fact that a lamp of this type was discovered in Pompeii in the safe of a wealthy household. The production and trade of these lamps were also very exclusive. Throughout the Empire, a few great workshops alone met the global demand. The most famous were located in Lazio, in Campania, in Alexandria and in Corinth.

They constantly created new repertories, which ranged from canonical lamps (No. 23, No. 32 and No. 33) to examples in relief, in which animals (No. 43) and Negroid heads (No. 34 and No. 44) were highly successful. Pushing imagination to the extreme, the Italian craftsmen even created functional lamps with two separable halves, symbolizing the mutual love of newlyweds or the supportive friendship for a loved one leaving on a journey (No. 50). The heights of luxury, rare gold and silver lamps, not very functional but extremely decorative, adorned the tables of the members of the Imperial court (No. 46).

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At the other end of the planet, the great Chinese emperors ordered other types of luxury lamps, always made of bronze, sometimes embellished with extremely delicate gold and silver niello (No. 19). As for fuel, they favored beeswax or whale blubber candles, then lamps using semi-solid fuels, such as vegetable and animal fats, including the famous “Chinese wax” secreted by certain insects.

Far from esthetic concerns, the Roman ceramists also had to face an important logistical problem, similar to our contemporary globalization. The sheer size of Rome, long-distance transport and the purveyance to the legions during the first two centuries A.D. resulted in a massive need for lamp supply. To meet the needs of the wholesalers, of the transporters and of the military purveyors, who had to quantify and identify the goods, lamp manufacturers invented an incredibly modern element: the brand. Stamped in relief on the base of the lamp, it even gave rise to a specific type of lamp, the Firmalampe (factory lamp), whose only decoration it composed (No. 39).

As of the 3rd century A.D., the ancient world had two diametrically opposed lychnological realities: in the north and in the east of the Empire, oil lamps were a distant memory, even for the most affluent, while the situation was completely different in the south.

After more than two centuries of decadence, during which the iconography on lamps virtually disappeared, a new golden age of lamps adorned with scenes in relief dawned: in North Africa, workshops already renowned for the quality of their tableware made of terra sigillata began to produce lamps with hitherto unseen decorations. The Christian religion having become State property, these manufacturers launched the first lamps bearing biblical representations. Through their decoration, these artifacts played an important role in illustrating the contemporary religious practices.

It is worth noting that the Old Testament was the main source of inspiration for such scenes: Daniel in the lions’ den, the explorers of Canaan, the sacrifice of Isaac (No. 68), the three Jews before Nebuchadnezzar (No. 66) and in the furnace (No. 64). Complex scenes from the New Testament were limited to the representation of Christ trampling evil creatures (No. 67) or to the bust of an apostle (No. 70). Nonetheless, craftsmen found inspiration in both Testaments, a very rich repertory of symbols, such as the fish, referring to Christ the King (No. 71), Noah’s dove (No. 65) and the lion associated with Jacob (No. 69).

At the same time, in the Near East, a revolutionary form of lighting was born, soon to become the prerogative of the churches: the glass lamp. Its translucent and polychromatic radiation delighted the faithful and became the symbol of the divine spirit. Therefore, nothing was too good to hold such cups: craftsmen competed to prove

their talents in the making of bronze and silver lamps intended to hold a glass lamp cup (No. 78), while on the altars, bronze lamps radiated, each erected on a small candelabrum provided with a shaft specially designed to be inserted in the base (No. 63, No. 75 and No. 76).

In Egypt and Syria, zoomorphic bronze lamps aroused great enthusiasm, particularly those in the shape of a peacock (No. 77) or of a trifid egret (No. 79), as well as bird-shaped candle supports (No. 62). Such lamps were still produced in the early Islamic expansion. Sometimes, craftsmen brought to life a bygone fashion, like the footshaped lamp. Specific to the oriental cults of the 2nd and 3rd century A.D., it was reborn two centuries later, decorated with a cross on its lid, becoming the symbol of the Lord crushing death underfoot (No. 56).

The decorative richness of these bronze lamps seduced far beyond the borders of the Empire, since the craftsmen of the southern Arabian Peninsula created local versions freely inspired by Egyptian prototypes, though adorned with animals belonging to the local wildlife, like the many lamps with ibexes or those showing a lion attacking a bovid (No. 45).

With the Islamic conquest, large glass and bronze lamps still adorned the mosques, while molded lamps gradually disappeared in favor of new types of turned lamps. Among them, one shape in particular was enormously successful, since it was produced for more than seven centuries throughout a huge geographical area, ranging from the Moorish kingdoms of Spain to the borders of Iran and of Afghanistan (No. 83): this was a simple bowl, which constituted both the body and the nozzle and which differed by the systematic use of glaze, then of faience, a process that appeared in Mesopotamia during the 10th century A.D.

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1 Lamp carved in a seashell Sumerian, second half of the 3rd millennium B.C. (ca. 2500 - 2200 B.C.) Shell, lapis lazuli and white limestone (decorative friezes) L: 17.9 cm (1:1)

This piece is one of the first “luxury” natural lamps used in daily life: a seashell, imported over long distances, adorned with several bands encrusted with a two-colored geometric pattern of alternating pearl squares and lapis lazuli triangles. A band encircles the outer reservoir, interrupted only under the nozzle by three parallel bands that decorate its base.

As Robins points out in The Story of the Lamp and the Candle (Robins 1939), the Sumerian elite often commissioned lamps carved in the half-shell of the Tridacna, a large bivalve mollusk living in the Indian Ocean, or in the shell of the Lambis truncata sebae, a large gastropod, also unknown in the Persian Gulf, found in the Gulf of Oman, from where it was imported at great expense (Zettler and Horne 1998, no. 117, pp. 142-144).

Many examples marked with traces of combustion were discovered during the excavations of the Royal Tombs of Ur and at other sites, such as Nippur, like the artifacts now housed in the British Museum (inv. 120861) and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 51.25.18).

As is the case for our artifact, some of these shells were even reworked by excellent craftsmen, like the lamps of Ur now in the British Museum (inv. 123667; Woolley 1934, p. 282; p. 377, pl. 182) and in the National Museum of Iraq (Basmachi 1975, no. 91, p. 399), with the end of the natural valve carved in the shape of a bird with cut lapis lazuli eyes.

Concerning the decorative pattern on this lamp, it is an exact copy of that found on an ostrich egg (British Museum, inv. 123557) and on a gold artifact in the shape of an ostrich egg (University of Penn-

sylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, inv. B16692), both discovered in the Royal Tombs of Ur (Aruz and Wallenfels 2003, nos. 70a and 70b, pp. 118-119).

Condition Complete, but minor chips on the edges. Dotted outer surface (wear) revealing the typical veins in relief of shells.

Provenance Ex-Dr. J. Ziadé Collection, since 1980, Paris and Beirut; acquired on the Swiss art market in 2001.

Bibliography ARUZ J. and WALLENFELS R., Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus, New York, 2003.

BASMACHI F., Treasures of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad 1975.

ROBINS F.W., The Story of the Lamp and the Candle, London, 1939. pp. 39-40.

WOOLLEY C.L., Ur Excavations: Vol. II,The Royal Cemetery, London, 1934.

ZETTLER R.L. and HORNE L., Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur, Philadelphia, 1998.

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2 Lamp representing a bull with a human head Sumerian, second half of the 3rd millennium B.C. (ca. 2500 - 2200 B.C.) Alabaster (calcite) H: 5.5 cm – L: 22.5 cm – W: 10.5 cm (1:1)

This unique piece is evidence of the very first manmade lamps in Mesopotamia.

of the light (Amiet 1980, p. 137), which would explain its presence on lamps.

Inspired by the shells used to manufacture lamps (see previous example), the Sumerian elite thus commissioned lamps of this particular shape, but entirely man-made. There are some of medium size, made of solid silver or of copper, in the British Museum (silver: inv. 122256 and 120696; Robins 1939, pl. VIII; Zettler and Horne 1998, no. 111, p.137; copper: inv. 17447 and 17280; Zettler and Horne 1998, nos. 112-113, p. 137).

Our piece is very rare and has only two published close parallels: the example housed in the Louvre, which is stylistically very similar (inv. AO 5679, Caubet 1991, p.22); the lamp from the Royal Tombs of Ur, now in the British Museum (inv. 122254; Woolley 1934, p. 377, pl.

182; Zettler and Horne 1998, no. 14, pp. 68-69), whose rendering of the head slightly differs. A somewhat similar lamp, of less accurate workmanship but with a removable lid, also found at Ur, is housed in the National Museum of Iraq (Basmachi 1975, no. 91, p. 399).

But the most beautiful examples are certainly those made of calcite, like our lamp.

As is the case for the silver lamps, the craftsmen kept the predefined shape: a cylindrical body divided lengthwise into two parts, with one flat end and the other, possibly serving as a handle, trunconical.

The nozzle, with its rounded outline, extends from the body.

Condition Complete, but head of the bull reglued. Surface of the stone slightly worn and partially chipped; cracks. Traces of paint in the eyes.

Provenance Ex-Dr. J. Ziadé Collection, 1950s, Paris and Beirut (arrived in Europe in the 1970s).

Bibliography

The malleability of the stone allowed the craftsman to fully apply his carving skills and to sculpt a mythological being, half-bull, half-man. On the side of the lamp, the flank of the animal is represented in low relief. The bovid has its legs folded under its abdomen, its left foreleg carved in the round, on the other side of the vessel, for a better grip. The bearded human head, also in the round, was carved separately. The back of the head is cut straight and attached to the nozzle, which also forms the bull’s neck.

This curious creature, the bull with a human head, was named Kusarikku or Alimbû. It is often represented with the sun god Shamash (Utu in Sumerian) and, according to the experts in glyptic art, is a sort of genie

AMIET P., La glyptique mésopotamienne archaïque, Paris, 1980.

BASMACHI F., Treasures of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, 1975.

CAUBET A. et al., The Louvre, Near Eastern Antiquities, Paris, 1991.

ROBINS F.W., The Story of the Lamp and the Candle, London, 1939.

WOOLLEY C.L., Ur Excavations: Vol. II,The Royal Cemetery, London, 1934.

ZETTLER R.L. and HORNE L., Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur, Chicago, 1998.

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3 Circular censer Western Asian (Mesopotamia?), middle of the 3rd millennium B.C. Gold leaf H: 9 cm – D: 17.4 cm (1:1)

This censer is composed of three assembled elements.

The body and the foot were hammered from the same gold leaf, but the bottom of the vessel is a small disk that was made separately and soldered to the upper foot. The lid is pierced by many small holes, made with a very thin punch, arranged in straight lines.

The piece is as simple as it is elegant in shape. The body, mounted on a small trumpet-shaped foot, has a triangular profile, with a high vertical rim supporting the slightly convex circular lid.

Exactly how the object was utilized is uncertain. The presence of a cap on the bottom, which was no doubt difficult to seal completely, indicates that the vessel was not intended to contain liquids. It would therefore have been a censer for solid substances that gradually freed their scent through the lid or for incense sticks inserted into the small holes pierced in the lid.

Although no archeological or historical evidence enables us to confirm the precise use of this artifact, its shape clearly indicates its origin and date, since it is attested for gold drinking cups and also for small cosmetic containers discovered in the royal tombs of Ur and dated to around 2600 B.C. (Woolley 1934, pl. 160a, 161 and 239).

Condition Virtually intact; polished surface, minor deformations and irregularities due to ancient use. Partially cracked rim.

Provenance Ex-Sam Dubiner Collection, Israel, collected in the 1950s-1960s.

Exhibited “Artempo: Where Time Becomes Art”, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, JuneOctober 2007.

Published Published in the catalogue of the exhibition mentioned above.

Bibliography On Mesopotamian metal vessels, see: MÜLLER-KARPE M., Metallgefässe in Iraq I, II/14, Stuttgart, 1993, nos.

1129-1133, pl. 77-78.

On gold vessels from Ur, see: WOOLLEY C.L., Ur Excavations: Vol. II, The Royal Cemetery, London, 1934.

4 Votive plaque with a female deity (Astarte?)

Syro-Anatolian, ca. 2000 B.C. Terracotta Dim. (max): 37.1 x 26.8 cm

The relief features, at the front, a container in the shape of the prow of a boat, which was actually the reservoir of an oil lamp, as evidenced by the black traces on its tip. The irregular dark traces on the surface of the relief would also have been caused by the burning oil and the smoke. The plaque, whose dimensions are much larger than those of the average Near Eastern reliefs, would have been suspended by means of the hole pierced at the top.

The decoration is composed of two elements. At the center of the plaque, in a niche delimited by a cord in relief, is the main subject: a nude, standing woman, with simple and stylized shapes. She is, down to the smallest details, the clay version of the famous bronze statuettes found throughout the Near East. The closest parallels for this type can be found in the Syro-Anatolian world.

The identity of the figure remains uncertain, but she can most likely be identified as the goddess Astarte, a major figure in the Near Eastern pantheon. Her nudity, the strong sexual connotations (prominent breasts, pubis indicated by incisions, rounded buttocks) and the presence of animals are all elements that reinforce this hypothesis.

Here, the goddess is richly adorned with a necklace and with bracelets on her wrists and ankles. The rope-like feature around her face is enigmatic, but attested on many contemporary terracotta figurines.

The rest of the plaque is decorated with engraved geometric patterns (concentric circles, checkerboards, chevrons, triangles) and with a frieze representing deer on each side of the woman’s head.

This is an important piece, which would have been used as a votive plaque and suspended in a sanctuary dedi-

cated to Astarte, perhaps on the walls of a temple. The lamp would have been lit during specific rituals or simply in honor of the goddess.

No parallel can currently be suggested for this large plaque. Nevertheless, the style and the typology of the statuette enable us to relate it to the series of bronze figures from northern Syria dated to the early 2nd millennium B.C. The iconographic repertory, composed of stylized animals and of geometric patterns, is also typical of the Near East and appears on various painted ceramics of the late Early Bronze Age and the early Middle Bronze Age. Condition Complete and in good condition, except for one upper corner. Plaque reassembled from three large fragments. Traces of red paint still visible, mostly in the niche housing the statuette.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected ca. 1972 (Miss Ulla Lindner), Munich; acquired on the German art market in 2006.

Published Phoenix Ancient Art 2011 No. 1, Geneva-New York, 2011, pp. 40 and 116-117, no. 27.

Bibliography On votive reliefs representing gods, see: BARRELET M.-T., Figurines et reliefs en terre cuite de la MĂŠsopotamie antique, Paris, 1968, nos. 814-818, pl. 81.

OPIFICIUS R., Das altbabylonische Terrakottarelief, Berlin, 1961.

VAN BUREN E.D., Clay Figurines of Babylonia and Assyria, New HavenLondon, 1930, fig. 159-160, nos. 593, 597, pl. 33.

On bronze figurines in northern Syria, see: SEEDEN H., The Standing Armed Figurines in the Levant, PBF I, Munich, 1980, pl. 12-14.

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5 Incense shovel with animal decoration Western Asia, middle of the 2nd millennium B.C. Bronze L: 24 cm

This bronze incense shovel is composed of a rectangular receptacle placed on four small tubular feet and provided with a long shaft. Open in the front, the scoop is surrounded by three walls surmounted by a horizontal rim decorated with incised geometric motifs. Six delicately rendered animal figurines adorn the rim of the scoop and the shaft. At the front, there are two ibexes, pursued by two animals, probably dogs. Behind, the scene is replicated on the shaft, where a third ibex is followed by a third dog.

Such artifacts are as rare as they are important, since they figured among the first luxury religious accessories using incense in the Near East. As such, they have only a few precise parallels. The only example almost identical to ours is the shovel from Shahriar (Tehran Province), now housed in the British Museum (inv.

128602; Herzfeld 1929; Herzfeld 1941, p 175.). Similar in shape and size, it shows the ibexes and the dogs in the same order, except on the shaft, where the dog faces backwards and the head of an antlered stag is placed at the end. It is worth noting, however, that the animals of the British Museum’s shovel are rendered with fewer details than on our example. A second bronze shovel, also Iranian, housed in the Joseph Ternbach Collection, is also very similar (Merhav et al. 1981, no. 97, pp. 128-129).

Condition Complete, except for the end of the shaft, now broken; scoop edge chipped. Dark-colored surface.

Provenance Ex-European collection, collected in the 1930s; Christie’s, London, October 25, 2006, Lot 11.

Bibliography HERZFELD E., Animal Design in Prehistoric Persian Art: Remarkable Bronze Age Relics, in Illustrated London News, June 8, 1929, p. 983.

HERZFELD E., Iran in the Ancient East: Archaeological Studies Presented in the Lowell Lectures at Boston, London-New York, Oxford, 1941.

MERHAV R. et al., A Glimpse into the Past: The Joseph Ternbach Collection, Jerusalem, 1981.

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6 Phoenician lamp Phoenician (Levantine or Cypriot production), 8th century B.C. Ceramic L: 11.3 cm (1:1)

This piece is a valuable testimony of the first massproduced terracotta lamps. Indeed, as of the 1st millennium B.C., the Phoenician craftsmen developed a standard shape, easy to produce, whose invention is derived from a simple, highly relevant modification of an existing object, the saucer, which only required to be pinched on the rim before the firing process, so as to position the wick.

The success of this new creation was such that this type of lamp, thought to have been invented by the Phoenicians, survived in the southern and western Mediterranean basin until the fall of Carthage. Moreover, these lamps gradually conquered the entire Mediterranean, just as trade expanded initially with the Phoenicians and later with the Carthaginians.

To cite but one example of the export success of these objects, one should mention their widespread presence in the Balearic Islands (Savio 2006). First imported and then produced locally, they are the only type of lamp attested from the 7th century B.C. until the Hellenistic period, still surviving up to the 2nd century B.C. With its somewhat convex base and its wide rim, our example is perfectly typical of the production of the Near Eastern coastal workshops, but also those of Cyprus, dated to the 8th century B.C. (Sussman 2007, types A and B, pp. 61-64).

Condition Intact; traces of turning; extremely thin walls.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection, Neuchatel; acquired on the Swiss art market in 2002.

Bibliography SAVIO G., Le lucerne fenicie e puniche del Museo Archeologico di Ibiza e Formentera, Lugano, 2006.

SUSSMANN V., Oil-Lamps in the Holy Land: Saucer Lamps, from the Beginning to the Hellenistic Period, Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority, BAR International Series 1598, Oxford, 2007.

7 Censer with a lying bull statuette Punic (Cypro-Phoenician), 8th -7th century B.C. Bronze H: 15.4 cm – D: 16.3 cm (1:1)

This Phoenician bronze censer, or incense burner, is composed of three parts that were molded separately.

The base, first, is a cup surmounted by a wide horizontal rim under which appears a pierced ball, or pommel, taking the shape of a bud, in which the upper element, now lost, would have been inserted. This base supports a cylindrical lid decorated with two rows of triangular patterns pierced in openwork. This lid is topped by a lying bull, attached from the inside with two nails. The animal, whose rendering is very realistic, is represented with its mouth open and its tongue hanging out, as if suffering from the heat radiated by the incense burned below. The eyes, nostrils and hair on the top of the head are incised, while the skin folds on the neck and on the tail are rendered in relief.

Stylistically, this censer is a perfect example of the artistic influences and intense exchanges between the various Mediterranean cultures.

The bud-shaped pommel has an exact parallel in a Phoenician torch support discovered in Cyprus and now housed in the Louvre (Caubet 1976, no. 17), while the overall shape of the piece recalls a complete censer excavated in Santa Giusta (Sardinia), now in the Abis Collection in Oristano (Morstadt 2008, no. OF 1a/9, pp.

138 and 389, pl. 18). The only obvious difference is that the Sardinian censer is surmounted by a bull’s head and not by the entire animal. On the other hand, a bovid identical to ours and in the same lying position was discovered in Alcala del Rio (southern Spain) and is now housed in the Archaeological Museum of Seville (Morstadt 2008, no. OF 1a/10, pp. 140 and 389, pl. 29).

One may note how a simple-looking artifact reveals, in each of its parts, the power of the Phoenician artistic influence across the whole Mediterranean basin. The

fact that all major components of the parallels are gathered here might even allow us to consider, with the usual caution, that our example could be an original Phoenician or Cypriot production, a sort of “prototype” that inspired the Sardinian censer for the shape and the Spanish bull for the meticulous rendering of the bovid.

Chronologically, our censer appears to have been produced in the 7th century B.C. Despite the distances between their places of discovery, all three mentioned parallels can be dated to much the same period: 8th to 7th century B.C. for the torch support in the Louvre, 7th century B.C. for the bull in the Museum of Seville, first half of the 7th to late 6th century B.C. for the complete censer in the Abis Collection.

Condition Complete and virtually intact, despite minor chips. Beautiful grainy green patina.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection, Lugano, Switzerland; acquired in 1998.

Exhibited Animals in antiquities, Phoenix Ancient Art, Geneva, March 2004, no. 42.

Bibliography CAUBET A., Antiquités de Chypre au Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1976.

MORSTADT B., Phönizische Thymiateria: Zeugnisse des Orientalisierungsprozesses im Mittelmeerraum: originale Funde, bildliche Quellen, originaler Kontext (Alter Orient und Altes Testament ; Bd. 354), Münster, 2008.

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8 Stele with a man standing before a censer Near Eastern, 8th or 7th century B.C. Limestone Dim: 15.7 x 25 cm

This stele, with a scene in low relief and incisions of a remarkable artistic quality, shows the lower legs of a richly dressed figure wearing sandals. The figure stands upright on a pedestal decorated with scales, a rendering that can often be seen in the mythological scenes on Near Eastern cylinder seals, where it symbolizes the primal mound of the creation myths. In front of the figure is a censer with a high foot, very similar to that placed behind the altar where King Ashurbanipal himself pours a libation, on the famous relief of the royal lion hunt, discovered in the north palace of Nineveh, now in the British Museum (Curtis and Reade 1995, nos. 28-29, pp. 86-87).

Condition Only the lower part of the composition is preserved. Surface in good condition, though slightly chipped. The rear and the edges are smooth and well finished.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, around 1980; acquired from Toufic Arakji, Hamburg and London, February 5, 1997.

Bibliography CURTIS J.E. and READE J.E., Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum, London, 1995.

9 Censer with a high foot (turibulum) Persian, 6th century B.C. Silver H: 31 cm

Rare example of a turibulum, a term to distinguish the eastern censer of this type, closed by a dome, from that of the western type, open and bearing a cup, known as a thymiaterion (Goldman 1991).

The conical foot, decorated with horizontal grooves, rests on a round base with a flattened rim and supports a small cup with a rounded lower edge, surmounted by a vertical wall on which the lid is positioned. This dome-shaped lid is rendered in six circular steps, on the face of which arrow-shaped motifs are pierced at regular intervals. At the top, a small conical dome is crowned by a four-petaled flower decoration in relief, from which a knobbed tip emerges.

The closest parallel, an almost identical piece, provided with a Lydian inscription, was recently retroceded by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Turkey. Its place of discovery and the name of its owner, a certain Artimas, led some to consider the item as Greco-Oriental (Mertens et al. 1987, no. 28, p. 44). However, the more recent studies attest that this artifact is a pure production of the Persian culture (Goldman 1991), of which luxury examples were exported to Asia Minor, where their original shapes, like that of Oriental luxury furniture, were reinterpreted in a number of different ways and exported, gradually conquering the Greek world (Paspalas 2000).

Our specimen probably originated in Persia and can be dated to the 6th century B.C. Its direct parallel can be found in the iconography of its native land, in particular the two censers placed at the foot of the king, in the throne room, on the monumental relief showing the royal court of Darius I in Persepolis, carved between 487 and 480 B.C., now in the National Museum of Iran (Seipel 2000, abb .7, p. 192).

Considering that such objects, beautifully reflected by our artifact, were reserved for the King of Kings and his immediate surroundings, the idea of identifying the Artimas of the turibulum formerly housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the all-powerful governor of Lydia (mentioned by Xenophon in his Anabasis), a personal friend of Cyrus the Younger, may not be entirely unfounded.

Condition Complete and in very good condition; minor deformations, minor damage on handle. Traces of black material used for fixing between the elements (bitumen?). Traces of green oxidation.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, Berlin, 1940s-1950s; acquired on the German art market in 2004.

Published Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 8 June 2012, Lot 73.

Bibliography GOLDMAN B., Persian Domed Turibula, in Studia Iranica, 20, 1991, pp.

179-188.

MERTENS J.R. (ed.), Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece and Rome, New York, 1987.

PASPALAS S.A., On Persian-Type Furniture in Macedonia: The Recognition and Transmission of Forms, in American Journal of Archaeology, 104, 2000, pp. 531-560.

SEIPEL W. (ed.), 7000 Jahre persische Kunst. Meisterwerke aus dem Iranischen Nationalmuseum in Teheran, Milan, 2000.

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10 Lamp with four nozzles Archaic Greek, ca. 625 - 575 B.C. Serpentine D: 14.5 cm (1:1)

Very rare and intact example of an archaic stone lamp, made of serpentine.

This small lamp, almost square in shape, is provided with four nozzles that form the corners of the piece.

The interior is circular, divided equally by four rays emanating from a centrally pierced circle in relief allowing the lamp to be placed on a shaft, now lost. Each quarter-circle compartment is pierced, in the middle of its arc, by a hole giving access to the nozzle.

On each side, the artifact is adorned with a panel composed of three fluted bands in relief with an incised geometric decoration. The upper circular surfaces and rays are also adorned with geometric incisions.

Our example is almost identical to a fragmentary steatite lamp discovered in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (Hogarth et al. 1908, pp. 320-321; Bailey 1980, p. 166, pl. 145b). Similar in shape and in structure, adorned with the same decorative motifs, in relief and incised, the Ephesian lamp differs from ours only in the stone chosen by the craftsman and in the number of compartments (three).

The same excavations revealed another lamp, similar in shape, but made of white marble, also separated into three compartments and provided with simpler details (Bailey 1996, Q 3960, pp. 117-118, pl. 156-157).

Like these two lamps, our example very probably originated in Asia Minor and can be dated, according to Bailey, between 625 and 575 B.C. Indeed, it was between the mid-7th and the 6th century B.C. that votive stone lamps, usually made of marble, were produced both in the Greek Islands and in the major Aegean cities of Asia Minor (Beazley 1940). Thereafter, such lamps ap-

peared sporadically, during the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods. The only noteworthy exception in the production of stone lamps occurred many centuries later, with the star-shaped lamps produced in the Near East, in Syria and in Jordan, in the early Umayyad period (Chrzanovski 2005).

Condition Complete and in very good condition, despite minor chips. Traces of turning at the location of the shaft.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection, acquired from MĂźnzen and Medaillen AG, Basel, 1970s.

Bibliography BEAZLEY J.D., A Marble Lamp, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies, LX, 1940, pp. 22-49.

CHRZANOVSKI L., Petrea Lucerna: De Lascaux au Nouristan, petite histoire du luminaire lithique, in Bulletin Instrumentum 21, 2005, pp. 28-30.

HOGARTH D.G. et al., Excavations at Ephesus: The Archaic Artemisia, London, 1908.

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11 Thymiaterion with a kouros statuette Etruscan, late 6th century B.C. Bronze H: 27 cm

This elegant candelabrum was intended to hold a small cup, now lost, in which the wealthy Etruscans burned incense or perfume essences during religious celebrations, funeral ceremonies and private banquets.

The artifact is composed of a triangular-shaped base, supported by three feet in the form of feline paws, above which appears an element in relief, in the shape of an elaborate wave. The smooth sides of the base are adorned with an inscription in the Etruscan alphabet. In the center, a triangular pedestal, in the shape of a cornice altar, each of whose corners is surmounted by a pine cone in relief, supports a kouros, a nude young man, standing with his arms descending along his body. The anatomical details of the feet, legs, genitals and head (chin, lips, nose, curly hair) are rendered in relief and with great detail, while the eyes and the brows are delicately incised. The base of the central shaft emerges from a fluted disk resting on top of the young man’s head. Above, there is a second incised disk, from which radiate three stems alternating with three leaves in relief. These three stems, as well as the central shaft, supported the perfume-holder cup, now lost.

The closest parallel for our candelabrum, as regards its form and most of its details, is a thymiaterion from Vulci (north-west of Rome), now housed in the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco. It differs most in the rendering of the kouros, whose forearms are outstretched, as if to present offerings that are now lost. It can be dated to the late 6th century B.C. (Beazley and Magi 1941, pp.

165-171, pl. 47), a date that can also be suggested for our example, to be classified in the category of the late Archaic caryatid thymiateria (Testa 1989, pp. 138139). In this class of objects, there is a thymiaterion in all respects similar to ours, but with a more simplified

rendering, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 97.22.22).

It should be noted that both the kouros itself and the tripod shape were very popular in the art of Etruscan thymiateria. One can indeed see a similar figure on a piece from Falerii Veteres (north of Rome) dated to the last quarter of the 4th to the first half of the 3rd century B.C. (Ambrosini 2002, no. 269, p. 263, pl. LXX), while another very similar base adorns a candelabrum from Vulci, dated to the middle of 4th century B.C., now housed in the National Library of France (Ambrosini 2002, no. 77, pl. XXVII).

Condition Complete, except for the lost and fragmentary upper part; one of the feet of the base broken. Dark-colored surface with traces of green patina.

Inscription damaged on one of the rear sides of the base.

Provenance Ex-E. Borowski Collection, Basel and Toronto; acquired from E. Borowski, November, 1991.

Bibliography AMBROSINI L., Thymiateria etruschi in bronzo di etĂ tardo classica, alto e medio ellenistica (Studia archaeologica 113), Rome, 2002.

BEAZLEY J.D. and MAGI F. La raccolta Benedetto Guglielmi nel Museo gregoriano etrusco. Parte 2, Bronzi e oggetti vari, Rome, 1941.

TESTA A., Candelabri e Thymiateria (Cataloghi del Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, 2), Rome, 1989.

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12 Thymiaterion with three figures of Bes Phoenician (Cyprus), 7th - 6th century B.C. Bronze H: 43.5 cm

This bronze thymiaterion, a type of censer from the Mediterranean region, is composed of several elements molded separately. Three feet in the form of lion paws resting on flat disks gather under an ornament composed of three acanthus leaves, whose tips fall between the feline paws. This ornament is provided with a hole to fix the long shaft of the elegant balustershaped candelabrum, with successive bulges, emerging from a pommel and featuring in the middle a tubular section adorned with three figures of the Egyptian god Bes. On the upper, slightly conical section of the candelabrum is the lower circular element of the incense burner surmounted by the conical cup intended to hold incense or perfume essences. Finally, a lid in the shape of an inverted dish is placed on the cup, covering it when not in use.

This is a unique piece, whose elements reveal at least three major artistic influences attesting the rich cultural exchanges in the eastern Mediterranean during the Archaic period.

First, the incense burner is the key element that indicates both the date and the probable origin of the object. It has a close parallel in the example from Cyprus housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv.

74.51.5566). The artifact, formerly in the Cesnola Collection, is considered by archeologists as a perfect example of a censer of the Cypro-Archaic II type, namely of the 6th century B.C. (Karageorghis 2000, no. 284, pp. 174-175).

Second, the shaft, typically oriental in shape, reflects a strong Egyptian influence, both in the succession of bulges and especially in the presence of the god Bes, whose popularity increased throughout the Mediterranean thanks to Phoenician traders.

Third, the tripod in the shape of lion paws and the foliated ornament are specific to the Greek world. Feline paws and, to a lesser extent, plant ornaments became the distinctive feature of thymiateria and lamp tripods in the entire Mediterranean region, adopted by the Etruscan and Punic worlds, then by the Roman world.

Condition Apparently complete and in good condition; feline paws partially reglued. Green patina.

Provenance Ex-Georges Moro Collection, Paris, France and Germany; acquired in the 1970s.

Bibliography KARAGEORGHIS V., Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection, New York, 2000.

Red-figure lekythos representing Apollo 13 with a lyre before an altar Greek (Attica), early 5th century B.C. Ceramic H: 29.6 cm

This lekythos, a vessel intended to contain perfumed oil for body care, is decorated with a representation of Apollo standing before an altar. The young god, dressed in a himation (long cloak) holds in his left hand a cithara, the lyre of professional musicians, while carrying in his outstretched right hand a phiale (shallow drinking vessel) containing the wine that he is about to pour as an offering onto the flames of the divine fire burning on the altar. The shrine, square in shape and placed on a large pedestal, is adorned above by Ionic volutes highlighted by a band of festoons. Three red marks, on the side of the altar, symbolize the blood freshly spilt and indicate that a sacrifice was recently offered to the deity.

The shoulder of the vessel is decorated with a frieze of black figures, with alternating palmettes, lotus flowers and volutes. This rich decoration is separated from the body by two double bands framing a dotted zigzag and from the neck by two double bands framing vertical stripes. Under the figural representation, so as to indicate the ground, two double bands frame a frieze composed of a meander motif alternating with squares adorned with crosses.

An inscription, starting from the head of Apollo and continuing, in a curve, to the back of the altar, enables us to date this masterpiece precisely. Indeed, it reads Theodoros Kalos (“Dear Theodoros�), a dedication that can be found on several cups by the Epeleios Painter, active around 500 B.C. On red-figure vases, the scenes depicting Apollo who offers a sacrifice are quite common. In a different hypostasis, he is represented alone on a lekythos, whose shape and ornamentation of the friezes are much like ours, attributed to the Providence Painter, active

around 470-460 B.C., now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (inv. 95.45; Caskey and Beazley 1963, no. 068, pl. XLVI).

The closest parallel for our example, however, as regards the iconographic rendering of the figures, is without doubt the hydria (water pot) housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. ANSA IV 3739), on which Apollo and Artemis face each other, separated by an altar. Apollo, his lyre and the phiale are depicted in a manner almost identical to our vessel, although the god, having finished his libation, moves his right arm backwards in a powerful gesture. The altar, also stained with blood, is the same shape as ours, except that it has horns flanking the Ionic volutes on its upper part. This work, discovered in Cerveteri, is considered as an Attic production dated between 490 and 480 B.C. and provides a valuable comparison to date our artifact.

Condition Vessel reglued, restored and repaired (especially the foot and the shoulder).

Provenance Ex-Louis-Gabriel Bellon Collection (1819-1899), France.

Bibliography CASKEY L. D. and BEAZLEY J. D., Attic Vase Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston-Oxford, 1963.

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Red-figure stamnos representing Prometheus 14 and the satyrs (attributed to the Peleus Painter) Greek (Attica), ca. 440 B.C. Ceramic H: 47 cm

This masterpiece most likely illustrates a satyric drama

by Aeschylus, now lost, Prometheus the Fire-Bringer, or Prometheus Fire-Lighter (Beazley 1939), which is considered as the description of the original myth of the torch race, also known as Lampadedromia, or Prometheia, held annually in Athens. This race saw opposing runners representing each of the five tribes of the city, over a course of some thousand meters, from Dipylon (...) to the altar of Prometheus, near the Academy. The forty riders from each tribe were posted at intervals of twenty-five meters and the torch was thus passed in relay until the last competitor.

Both scenes on our stamnos can also be seen, though with a different rendering, on an slightly later Attic krater, a work of the Louvre Painter, active around 425-400 B.C., housed in the Yale University Art Gallery (Matheson and Pollitt 1975, no. 62, pp. 76-78).

Only a small fragment is preserved from the original drama by Aeschylus, a part of which is a statement by Prometheus warning a satyr who wanted to kiss and embrace the fire that he would “mourn for his beard” if he did (Voelke 1998, p. 232).

GISLER J-R., Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologicae Classicae (LIMC), Vol. VII, Zurich, 1994, s.v. Prometheus, p. 534, pl. 421, no. 5.

GÜNTNER G. (ed.), Mythen und Menschen, Griechische Vasenkunst aus einer deutschen Privatsammlung, Mainz/Rhine, 1997, n. 33, pp.

120-122.

KRUMREICH R. et al., Das griechische Satyrspiel, Darmstadt, 1999, pl. 21A(A).

Our stamnos (storage jar) illustrates what happens next.

Prometheus is at the center, wearing a chiton (long tunic) covered with a richly embroidered shorter tunic, his white hair maintained by a small band. He holds with both hands the narthex, the sacred scepter made from a fennel stalk. As he moves to the right, he turns his head back towards two satyrs trying to light their torches by bringing them into contact with his scepter.

A third satyr takes advantage of this moment of inattention and slips his torch over the head of the “firelighter”. Next to the hero reads the inscription kalos, which certainly relates to Prometheus.

Bibliography

On the other side of the stamnos, three young men are depicted standing, each dressed in a himation. The figure on the right holds a long cane in his left hand.

Condition Intact, traces of ancient repairs.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1960s.

Published

BEAZLEY J.D., Prometheus Fire-Lighter, in American Journal of Archaeology, 43, 1939, pp. 626–630.

MATHESON S.B. and POLLITT J.J., Greek Vases at Yale, New Haven, 1975.

VOELKE P., Figure du satyre et fonctions du drame satyrique, in Métis: Anthropologie des mondes anciens, 13, 1998, pp. 227-248.

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15 Sanctuary lamp

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Classical Greek, second half of the 5th century B.C. Ceramic D: 9.7 cm (Enlarged)

Rare example of a Greek open lamp with several nozzles (polylychnos). Round tank, with a small cone at its center so as to better distribute the oil to the nozzles.

Broad rounded shoulder, from which emerge ten small round nozzles. Elegant black glaze that turned partially reddish due to variations in temperature and oxidation during the firing process.

Our artifact belongs to the diachronic series of the so-called “sanctuary lamps�, most of which were indeed discovered in places of worship, particularly in Athens (Howland 1958, type 41, pp. 198-199; Scheibler 1976, pp. 59-63). These lamps take the overall shape and the characteristics of the body, shoulder and nozzles of the Classical and Hellenistic Greek devotional lamps. But they differ by the number of nozzles placed around the tank, ranging from seven to several dozens in the case of monumental lamps, in which the tank disappears in favor of a crown of spouts collecting the oil from the tubular shoulder.

Typologically, our example can be classified in the group of lamps dated to the Classical period, probably manufactured in an Aegean workshop, or even in southern Italy, during the second half of the 5th century B.C. In fact, as noted by many scholars, such lamps were rather rare in the major centers of mainland Greece, like Corinth and Athens, where they were often regarded as objects especially intended to be offered to the deities (Bailey 1980, Q 37 bis, p. 39). Nonetheless, their production apparently flourished both in Magna Graecia and north of the Black Sea, as attested by the different examples discovered in Crimea (Heres 1969, nos. 86-87, pp. 35-36, pl. 8).

Condition Complete and virtually intact; paint damaged, minor chips.

Provenance Ex-Louis-Gabriel Bellon Collection (1819-1899), France.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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16 Black-glazed open lamp Greek (Colonial production), late 5th - early 4th century B.C. Ceramic L: 11.6 cm (Enlarged)

Beautiful example of a Classical Greek open lamp provided with a ribbon handle. Round tank, with a small cone at its center so as to better distribute the oil to the nozzle. Broad rounded shoulder, from which emerges an elongated nozzle with a rounded end and a flat upper surface. Very uniform and elegant black glaze.

The details of the various components of the lamp, particularly its rounded shoulder and its flat elongated nozzle, lead us to consider it as a production of Magna Graecia, a local variant of the Athenian canonical types (Howland 1958, type 21), manufactured in the last decades of the 5th century and in the first quarter of the 4th century B.C. It has a very close parallel in an apparently Sicilian lamp housed in the British Museum (Bailey 1980, Q 662. p. 309 and pl. 122-123).

Condition Complete and virtually intact; paint damaged, minor chips; traces of turning.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection, collected in the 1960s-1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

Red-figure krater representing a Dionysian 17 sacred banquet (attributed to the Darius Painter) Italiote (Apulia), ca. 340 - 320 B.C. Ceramic H: 48.2 cm

This masterpiece from Magna Graecia, published by Trendall and Cambitoglou, represents the sacred banquet of Dionysus.

On one side of the krater, the god of wine and grapes is seated in the center of the composition, resting on two cushions. Naked to the waist, he has folded his upper himation (long cloak), covering his legs. Wearing a basket crown, he holds in his left hand a long thyrsus (sacred staff) decorated with plants, while carrying a large phiale (shallow drinking vessel) in his right hand. Facing him, a young woman dressed in a rich garment covered with a chlamys (cloak), her hair arranged in a high bun adorned with jewelry, plays the aulos (double flute). At her feet, in front of the god, a thymiaterion (candelabrum) and a wreath emphasize the ritual atmosphere of the scene. Above Dionysus appears a winged Eros, nude except for a rich necklace adorning his neck and chest, bracelets on his lower legs and a high gilded bun on his head.

He is seated on his himation, with a richly decorated phiale falling from his right hand, while turning to his left to observe the arrival of a satyr. This last figure, on the right of the composition, is nude, aside from a band of flowers encircling his forehead. He climbs two steps, at the foot of which lies an amphora, and carries a situla, a bronze bucket-like vessel intended to contain the holy water, in his left hand, while holding a rhyton, a drinking vessel in the shape of a horn, in his right hand.

On the other side of the krater, a nude young satyr, his head encircled by a small band, holds a torch in his right hand and a large phiale in his left hand. He turns to his left, where a young man stands. This youth, his head also encircled by a small band, is nude, except for a chlamys covering his shoulders and back. He holds a

laurel branch in his left hand, while carrying a ribbed situla in his right hand.

The composition is delineated, above, by a frieze of double laurel leaves. Below appears, on the main side, a double band composed of interlacing ivy leaves and stems, highlighted by a series of egg-and-dart patterns, while, on the other side, a broad band with a red background is adorned with an uninterrupted meander motif painted in black.

Condition Complete and in excellent condition; minor cracks and chips.

Provenance Ex-property of the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust; Sotheby’s, London, December 13-14, 1982, Lot 290; Summa Gallery, Beverly Hills, late 1980s.

Published TRENDALL A.D. and CAMBITOGLOU A., First Supplement to the RedFigured Vases of Apulia, London, 1983, no. 18/64c.

Bibliography DENOYELLE M. and IOZZO M., La céramique grecque d’Italie méridionale et de Sicile, Paris, 2009, pp. 199-164.

TRENDALL A.D., Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily, A Handbook, Londres, 1989, pp. 74-156.

TRENDALL A.D. and CAMBITOGLOU A., The Red-Figured Vases of Apulia, vol. 2, Oxford, 1982, pp. 482 ss.

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18 Basket-shaped openwork censer Chinese, Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Warring States period (475 - 221 B.C.) Bronze H: 14 cm – D: 12 cm (1:1)

This small bronze basket, of a slightly conical shape, is placed on a circular base, pierced in the center by a large round opening and supported by three small feet, each surmounted by an ornament in the shape of an inverted Taotie mask, an animal motif usually found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels from the Shang Dynasty and from the Zhou Dynasty.

The artifact was made in the lost wax technique, allowing a very elegant rendering of the openwork body and of the piece as a whole, composed of intricately detailed, intertwined serpent-like creatures. At the top and at the bottom, the basket weave has a broad circular band decorated with incised floral patterns.

The precise purpose of this bronze masterpiece is still uncertain, but it can likely be deemed a censer, or incense burner. The closest parallel for our example is an artifact similar in shape and features, discovered in 1986 in Jingmen, now housed in the Hubei Provincial Museum (Duan Shu’an 1996, no. 79, p. 30). The only major difference between the two pieces is in the nature of the interweaving, with plant patterns on the bronze example from Jingmen and creature motifs on our specimen.

Chronologically, the closest iconographic parallels, for the serpents especially, can be found among the bronze masterpieces of the State of Chu, mostly in the funerary furniture of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, dated to 433 B.C. (Rawson 1996, p. 132).

Condition Complete. Surface partially covered with a grainy green patina, but still retaining its golden color in places. Incised decorative motifs.

Provenance Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London; ex-private collection, acquired in April 2007.

Bibliography DUAN SHUAN (ed.), Zhong guo gingtongqi quanji (Collection of Ancient Chinese Bronzes), Vol. 10 (Eastern Zhou, Part 4), Beijing, 1996.

RAWSON J. (ed.), Mysteries of Ancient China: New Discoveries from the Early Dynasties, London, 1996.

19 Lamp with a high foot Chinese, Warring States period (475 - 221 B.C.) Nielloed bronze with gold and silver H: 31.2 cm

This unique example of a Chinese lamp is characterized by an elegant shape consisting of a round base from whose center emerges the shaft of a candelabrum.

Above the first conical section, the baluster-shaped shaft is surmounted by a slightly conical tubular stem that supports the round dish intended to contain the oil, or to hold a lamp or a candle.

The entire piece is decorated with a delicate gold and silver niello that forms a complex geometric interlacing on the whole outer surface of the artifact. This rich decoration is highlighted, on the base, by a repeated “snake dragon” symbol appearing four times.

A similar lamp, now in the Palace Museum in Beijing, was published in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua da quan.

A later example (Western Han Dynasty) with a similar upper dish, but with a smaller candelabrum, whose base is in the shape of a raptor’s taloned foot, is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 1991.340), while an identical, delicate gold and silver niello can be seen, in the same museum, on a belt buckle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, dated to the same period as that of our artifact (inv. 1997.494).

Condition In good condition; minor traces of oxidation.

Provenance Ex-Chan Collection, Hong Kong.

Exhibited 52nd Antique Dealers’ Fair of Belgium, Christian Deydier, Brussels, January 2007.

Published Catalogue: 52nd Antique Dealers’ Fair of Belgium, Brussels, 2007, p. 380.

Bibliography Zhongguo wenwu jinghua da quan, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 279, pl. 1009.

For the pieces in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see the website of the museum, where both objects are published with pictures.

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20 Tetradrachm of Bagdates I Persian, last years of the 3rd - two first decades of the 2nd century B.C. Silver Weight: 15.62 gr. (Enlarged)

This silver coin is a highly important historical testimony. Bagdates is by no means an unknown figure. Indeed, he was the first Persian satrap tolerated by the new masters of the East, the Seleucids, who followed the custom introduced by Alexander of installing Greeks primarily in the key administrative positions.

Bagdates thus became the high priest and ruler of Estakhr, a Zoroastrian sanctuary city located only five kilometers north of the former capital, Persepolis, which was also destroyed by Alexander.

It is precisely under the rule of Bagdates that the city began to be rebuilt and decorated with some of the most impressive monuments in Persia (Boyce 1988).

Under Bagdates, with the support of the Seleucids, Estakhr, easier to defend than Persepolis, rapidly became increasingly independent, culminating with quasi-independence in 280 B.C., when the satrap took advantage of the death of Seleucus I to grant himself many royal prerogatives.

It is no coincidence that Bagdates, the architect of the revival of Estakhr, knowingly used the art of coinage to highlight his two functions. On the obverse side, the bust is adorned with the kyrbasia, the pointed headgear that was a royal attribute in the past, which later became the distinctive headdress of the satraps. On the reverse side, Bagdates, richly dressed, stands before the sanctuary of which he was in charge. What Bagdates wanted to emphasize here was his position as frataraka (keeper of the fire) and high priest, a function that ensured the respect and submission of his citizens far beyond the boundaries of the territory that he ruled, since the building, a symbol of the millennium city, was among the most important fire temples of the Zoroastrian religion (Boyce and Grenet 1991).

Condition In excellent condition.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection.

Published Money of the World, no. 27; ex-Millennia Sale, Lot 61.

Bibliography BOYCE M., Estakhr as a Zoroastrian Religious Centre, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. 8, Winona Lake, 1988, pp. 643–646.

BOYCE M. and GRENET F., A History of Zoroastrianism. Vol. 3: Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman rule, Leiden, 1991.

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21 Tetradrachm with a fire temple and a male portrait Persian, late 4th or 2nd century B.C. (?)

Silver Weight: 16.35 gr. (Enlarged)

This coin, whose reverse side is identical to that of the previous example, is currently at the center of one of the most interesting debates on numismatics and would alone call into question more than a century of research into Persian monetary art.

costumes of the Persian rulers in the 4th century B.C., but also the list of monarchs. Oborzos would therefore not be the son and successor of the satrap Bagdates, but the brother and successor of Artaxerxes I, himself a successor of Bagdates.

On the one hand is the traditional interpretation, established from the very first annotated catalogues and recently revised and completed in the exhaustive classification by Michael Alram (1986). This hypothesis identifies the figure represented on the obverse side as one of the first rulers of the new Persian Empire in the 2nd century B.C. In addition to the numismatic arguments, many scholars highlight the specific characteristics of the figure’s headgear, apparently a peaked leather cap with a neck guard, covering the entire head apart from the face, fastened on the chin and held in place by means of a small band. It is also worth noting the fine ear pendant, a second element that would suggest Hellenistic coinage, struck shortly after the previous example.

Condition

On the other hand, a new theory initiated by the numismatist Arthur Houghton (1987), based on a still unpublished monetary treasure, entails fully reviewing the chronology of monetary productions as regards the reverse side with the high priest before the fire temple of Mazda. According to Houghton, Bagdates is at the origin of this iconography, but this image would not represent the Seleucid satrap. It would depict another Bagdates, the first King of Kings of Persia, and our coin would thus belong to a series issued by Artaxerxes I of Persia or by his brother and successor Oborzos, which leads us to date it to the late 4th century B.C. The latter theory, if proved to be true, would call into question not only the considerations regarding the

In excellent condition.

Provenance Numismatic Fine Arts Inc., Los Angeles, Auction XVIII, Ancient Coins, Part I, March 31, 1987, Lot 244.

Bibliography ALRAM M., Nomina Propria Iranica in Nummis, IPNB 4, Vienna, 1986.

HOUGHTON A., Catalogue: Bank Leu, Antike MĂźnzen, Auction 42, Zurich, 1987, pp. 70-71, nos. 376-377.

HOUGHTON A., Catalogue: Numismatic Fine Arts, Auction XVIII, Part I, Los Angeles 1987.

22 Lamp representing a sleeping Eros Late Hellenistic (Alexandrian production), 2nd - 1st century B.C. Ceramic L: 9.8 cm (1:1)

Virtually unique, this piece is the result of the talent and innovation of the craftsmen working in Alexandria in the Hellenistic and Imperial periods. This very finely detailed statuette-lamp represents a theme exclusive to the Greco-Roman religions in Egypt: a small sleeping winged Eros, with Dionysian attributes.

Alexandria gave birth to the development of a wide range of reinterpretations of Greco-Roman mythological figures, adapted to the needs of the local cults and traditions. Eros with a torch, widespread on the Imperial lamps, is not a simple cupid with love virtues.

He is represented with all the attributes of the companions of Bacchus, in a hypostasis similar to the statutory Near Eastern representations of Papposilenus, the leader of satyrs, with his captivating singing and his accurate prophecies, a protector of Dionysus, often represented slouching on a tiger skin, holding an amphora, asleep after having drunk the drugged wine of King Midas.

Thus, Eros turns into a reveler lying asleep. His bent left arm rests on a wine amphora, while his outstretched right hand relaxes its grip on a ceremonial torch finely decorated with geometric motifs. His left leg is folded under the right one, indicating that he has only just fallen asleep. Entirely nude, the figure wears only a rich crown of vine leaves atop his thick hair, its looped straps falling on his shoulders. The facial features are skillfully rendered, conveying the blissful state of the young god of love. His heavy eyelids are closed and his childlike cheeks are offset by the sensual lips with the discreet smile.

The body of the lamp, of a rather uncommon shape, was designed so as to fit the figurine. Beneath the wings of the figure is the filling hole, in the form of a semi-

circular receptacle, while the nozzle for the wick, just in front of the torch, was placed there precisely to suggest that it is the flame of the torch held by Eros that offers light to the user of the lamp.

Although there is no parallel for our lamp, it is noteworthy that the same theme appears on the discuses of the late-Hellenistic lamps produced in Egypt, as attested by the example excavated in Ehnasya (Petrie 1905, L22t, pl. LIII; Hayes 1980, no. 178, p. 37, pl. 18) and by that in the British Museum (Bailey 1988, Q 555 bis, pp. 13 and 455, pl. 153). Among the rare representations of this scene on lamps in relief like ours, one should mention two pieces in the Schloessinger Collection in Jerusalem (Rosenthal and Sivan 1978, nos. 611-612, p. 148). Their shape is very different, but the bacchanalian attributes are emphasized: a lion skin, a plant wreath, a dropped object (basket). Both are Egyptian productions acquired in Beirut, which might indicate the export of such lamps to the Near East, a well documented phenomenon for other types of refined Egyptian lamps, found from Gaza to the southern coast of Asia Minor.

Condition Complete; minor chips. Burn marks on the nozzle. Surface slightly worn.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s; acquired in Freiburg, Germany.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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23 Lamp with a feline protome handle Roman, early Imperial period (1st century B.C.- 1st century A.D.) Bronze H: 11.3 cm (1:1)

Bronze lamp on a high circular base, with a broad round body and an ogival nozzle with a double volute.

The shoulders of the lamp are adorned with four circular medallions separated by double-arrowed rods and decorated with plant motifs. The volutes lead into trefoil palmettes, while a labyrinth frieze highlights the circular rim surrounding the concave and smooth discus, where the filling hole is located. The flat upper surface of the nozzle is decorated with a stylized thunderbolt in very low relief, while the underside of the nozzle is adorned with the head of Pan, identified by the goat’s horns and the pointed ears protruding from his tousled hair. The god has furrowed features and a closed mouth, his lips protruding from the thick mustache and the bushy beard.

At the back, a semi-circular handle terminates, above the body, in a four-petaled flower from which emerges the protome of a leaping feline, probably a panther, its forelegs outstretched.

Our example belongs to a small group of lamps with a double volute, the only type including a few specimens, like ours, characterized by their over-ornamentation, a sort of horror vacui, or fear of empty space, rarely found in Roman productions. The finest examples of such lamps are most probably two lamps, each with two nozzles, from Pompeii (Valenza Mele 1981, nos. 58-9, pp. 37-38). Each is also provided with a head in relief under the nozzle, a bearded god for the first one, a theatrical mask for the second, as well as richly decorated shoulders, especially the second example, where alternating spirals, rosettes and vine leaves appear. Another outstanding example is certainly the lamp with two nozzles alternating with lion protomes, now in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3649, pp. 33-34, pl. 35-37). Of the simple volute type, it none-

theless has a decorative exuberance similar to that of previous artifacts and, in particular, features under the nozzles Pan heads almost identical to that of our example. These three lamps are dated between the second half of the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D. Regarding the specimen in the British Museum, however, Bailey does not exclude the hypothesis that it might have been produced or at least reworked during the Renaissance.

Condition Complete and virtually intact, but the lid is now lost. Dark-colored surface with traces of green patina.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection, Neuchatel; acquired on the Swiss art market in 2002.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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24 Lamp representing gladiator weapons Roman (Asia Minor production), last quarter of the 1st century B.C.- first third of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 11.5 cm (Enlarged)

“Upon Trajan’s return to Rome ever so many embassies came to him from various barbarians, including the Indi.

And he gave spectacles on one hundred and twenty-three days, in the course of which some eleven thousand animals, both wild and tame, were slain, and ten thousand gladiators fought.”

Cassius Dio, Historia romana, LXVIII, 15

It seems that this motif, featuring the equipment of legionaries or, more often, of gladiators, was inspired by the large Hellenistic low reliefs adorning the propylaea at Miletus and the Temple of Athena at Pergamon, which would explain the Micro-Asian origin of our lamp and of most of its parallels, as well as of its first imitations, still in the Hellenistic world, in Alexandria.

(Translated by Earnest Cary)

Condition

Lamp molded in an orange clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Complete and in very good condition, despite minor chips.

Flat shoulder. Anvil-shaped nozzle flanked by volutes.

Clearly defined discus decorated with a rich frieze of gladiator weapons.

Ex-private collection, 1990s; Christie’s, New York, June 11, 2003, Lot 201.

Represented here are round shields (parmae), rectangular shields (scuta), high-crested Samnite helmets (galeae) with cheekguards, a secutor helmet covering the entire head and face, a long sword (gladius), a short curved sword (sica), greaves (ochreae), retiarus armguards (manicae) with incorporated gloves and, finally, a cuirass for a short tunic, a typical military piece.

See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

Our lamp can be classified, along with a number of lamps housed in the museums of Jerusalem (Rosenthal and Sivan 1978, no. 68, p. 24), Milan (Bessi and Moncini 1980, no. 58, p. 67, pl. VIII) and Bonn (Hübinger 1993, 212, p. 115, pl. 27), as well as with a fragmentary lamp discovered in Vindonissa (Leibundgut 1977, no. 231, p. 170, pl. 43), in the first group of lamps adorned with a frieze of weapons, a very popular pattern until the mid-2nd century A.D. (Bailey 1988, Q 1885, p. 58). The main differences between the first productions and their successors concern the number of weapons represented and the accuracy of their rendering.

Provenance

Bibliography

25 Lamp with a pastoral scene Roman (central Italian production), early 1st century A.D. (reign of Tiberius) Ceramic L: 11.5 cm (Enlarged)

“Meliboeus, foolishly, I thought the city they call Rome was like ours, to which we shepherds are often accustomed to drive the tender young lambs of our flocks. So I considered pups like dogs, kids like their mothers, so I used to compare the great with the small. But this city indeed has lifted her head as high among others, as cypress trees are accustomed to do among the weeping willows.�

Virgil, Bucolicorum eclogae, I, 15-20 (Translated by A.S. Kline)

Lamp molded in a beige clay and covered with a brown slip.

Slightly convex shoulder decorated with a half eggand-dart motif. Ogival nozzle flanked by volutes and pierced by a small vent hole, a Roman innovation enabling an increase in the air around the wick, thus enhancing the flame.

Slightly concave discus decorated with a beautiful pastoral scene. On the left, a bearded shepherd stands in right profile, leaning on a stick as he quietly guards his flock. He is dressed in a short tunic and in an animal skin fastened at his neck and wears sandals.

At the center of the composition, a goat presses his forelegs on the trunk of a tree, reaching to graze the leaves. It steps over a small dog sleeping peacefully, its head withdrawn and resting on his front paws. Below, two other goats are represented one behind the other, grazing the grass, one turning its head towards the viewer, the other seen in right profile. On the right, there are three other members of the flock seen one behind the other. The one in the foreground, a goat, and the one in the background, the back of which only is visible, are shown grazing, while the animal in the middle, a billy goat with powerful curved horns and a longer beard than the others, looks straight ahead.

Our lamp is among the finest examples of pastoral scenes, as sung by Virgil, so important to the urban Romans, nostalgic for the countryside. This is one of the rare lamps featuring the complete version of the composition, which first appeared, in a simpler form, on Italian lamps with anvil-shaped nozzles dated to 10-15 A.D. (Di Filippo Balestrazzi 1988, no. 193, pp. 6668). Constantly copied and imitated since its creation and until the 3rd century A.D. in the provinces, such as Alexandria (Mlynarczyk 1998), the type of scene depicted on our lamp is often limited to the shepherd and the goat grazing the leaves of the tree, or to the shepherd and the two goats grazing in front of him.

Among the closest parallels, there are only three lamps similar to ours: a lamp from Pozzuoli, which only differs by the undecorated shoulder, now in the British Museum (Bailey 1980, Q 923, pp. 44-45), a lamp discovered and housed in Trier (Goethert 1985, no. 144, pp. 241-242 and no. 403, pl. 57) and an Italian lamp, formerly in the Campana Collection, now in the Hermitage Museum (Waldhauer 1914, no. 167, p. 35, pl. XV).

Condition In good condition, but neck of the nozzle repaired and incomplete underneath; chips. Paint partially faded or peeling.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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26 Lamp with a gladiatorial fight Roman (Italian production), first half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 10.5 cm (Enlarged)

“As time went on, Tiberius came to imitate, and to contend in many events, driving chariots, fighting as a gladiator, giving exhibitions of pantomimic dancing, and acting in tragedy. So much for his regular behavior.”

Cassius Dio, Historia romana, LIX, 5

(Translated by Earnest Cary)

Lamp molded in an orange clay and covered with a brown slip.

Flat shoulder. Anvil-shaped nozzle flanked by volutes. Discus opening onto the nozzle via a short channel. Clearly defined discus decorated with a gladiatorial fight.

On the right, a murmillo, or a Gaul, is on the attack. He brandishes his sword above his head. To move more freely, he pushes his tunic aside, pressing his semi-cylindrical shield (scutum) against his left leg. In front of him, his adversary, a Thracian, is on the defensive. He wields his short curved sword (sica) to parry the blow of his opponent, while taking cover behind his small square shield (parma). Each fighter wears an undergarment (subligaculum) fastened with a belt (balteus), but their protective armor differs. The Thracian warrior wears an armguard (manica) on his right arm and is equipped with two large greaves (ochreae), while the murmillo wears an open crested helmet and his ankles are protected by short leather pads (fasciae).

Representations of gladiators are among the most popular decorative features on Roman lamps. Our lamp, for which only one close parallel is attested, belongs to the first, most lively productions. It derives directly from a prototype produced by a Lazio workshop between the last quarter of the 1st century B.C. and the first third of the 1st century A.D. Housed in the Kestner

Museum in Hanover, it is larger in size and has the same iconography. It is unique because the names of the two fighters are incised along their backs. The Thracian warrior is called Decirius and the murmillo is called Baebius (Mlasowsky 1993, no. 159, pp. 180-181). This representation was later imitated by Greek artisans, as evidenced by an example from a Greek workshop now in Jerusalem (Rosenthal and Sivan 1978, no. 61, p. 24).

Condition Complete and in very good condition, despite minor chips. Paint partially faded. Old hand-written inventory numbers (206 in lead pencil and illegible number in black ink).

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography On gladiatoral scenes adorning the discuses of Roman lamps, see: BEMONT C., Des gladiateurs et des lampes, in Antiquités nationales, 37, 2005, pp. 149-172.

BLÁZQUEZ J.M., Représentaciónes de gladiadores en el Museo arqueológico nacional, in Zephyrus, IX, 1958, pp. 79-94.

DEJEAN H., Gladiateurs sur les lampes à huile antiques, Draguignan, 2010.

HELLMANN M.-C., Les représentations de gladiateurs sur les lampes romaines, in A.A.V.V., Les Gladiateurs, Lattes, 1987, pp. 83-85.

LADSTÄTTER S., Lampen mit Gladiatorendarstellungen aus den Hanghäusern in Ephesos, in Gladiatoren in Ephesos: Tod am Nachmittag, Vienna, 2002, pp. 97-102.

MORILLO CERDAN A., Representaciónes gladiatorias y circenses en lucernas romanas de la région septentrional de la Peninsula Ibérica, in Hispania en la antigüedad tardia: Ocio y espectaculos, Actas del II Encuentro (Alcala, Octubre 1997), Alcala de Henares, 2001, pp.

175-212.

PUYA GARCÍA DE LEANIZ M., Representaciónes de gladiadores en discos de lucernas del Museo arqueológico de Sevilla, in Homenaje a Samuel de los Santos, Albacete, 1988, pp. 215-244.

WILLIAMS H., Gladiator Representations on Egyptian Lamps in Vancouver, in EGAN R.B. and JOYAL M.A. (eds.), Daimonopylai: Essays in Classics and the Classical Tradition Presented to Edmund G. Berry, Winnipeg, 2004, pp. 479-486.

27 Lamp with a naval scene Roman (Italian production), first half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 10.1 cm (Enlarged)

“It is the responsibility of sailors and pilots to acquaint themselves with the places in which they are going to sail and the harbors, so as to avoid dangerous waters with projecting or hidden rocks, shallows and sandbanks. Safety is greater, the deeper the sea is. In navarchs close attention is required, in pilots skill, and in oarsmen strength, because naval battles are staged in a calm sea, and the massive warships strike through the enemy with their ‘beaks’ and avoid their attack in turn not by means of the breath of winds but by the beat of their oars. In this operation the muscle of the oarsmen and the skill of the officer who guides the rudder win a victory.”

Vegetius, De re militari, V:13 (Translated by N.P. Milner)

Lamp molded in a beige clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Flat shoulder. Anvil-shaped nozzle flanked by volutes and pierced by a small vent hole. Very clearly defined discus representing a navis longa in right profile.

This type of ship was the backbone of the Roman fleet because of its versatility. It was used both for the transport of troops and for reconnaissance operations, having excellent maneuverability in all weather conditions. Its mainsail allows it to obtain the full benefit of the wind and, as in this case, the single line of oarsmen takes over on the calm seas, rendered here by a surface in relief punctuated by incisions.

All details of the ship are accurately represented: the large central mainmast (malus) surmounted by a maintop (carchesium), the yard (antenna) supporting the folded mainsail (velum subductum), the six halyards (chalatorii funes) stretched between the yard and the deck, where a robust guardrail protects the oarsmen.

The large bow (prora) curves into a scrolled figurehead (akrostolion) surmounting the naval ram (rostrum), an armored beak used to puncture the hull of an enemy ship so as to disable or to sink it. In the Greek fashion, an eye is symbolically drawn on the bow in order to attract favorable seas and to frighten the enemy. The upper stern (puppis) is decorated with a stern-post ornament (aplustrum) resembling the tail feathers of a bird.

Representations of ships seem to have been very popular during the 1st century A.D. Ships similar to ours appear only on lamps with an anvil-shaped nozzle (Bounegru 1984), rare productions that would have come both from central Italian workshops and from the large Cnidian workshop of Romanesis, like the example in Mainz (Menzel 1969, no. 146, p. 35, abb. 28:15, p. 33) and the fragmentary lamp in Berlin, both from Miletus (Heres 1972, no. 566, p. 87, pl. 60).

However, identical lamps, but with a less careful rendering and often provided with a handle, appeared as of the Claudian period in the repertory of Rhineland workshops, also on lamps with an anvil-shaped nozzle (Goethert 1985, no. 153, pp. 244-245 and no. 377, p 36; Leibundgut 1977, no. 165, p. 161, pl. 36; Heres 1972, nos.

64-65, p 25, pl. 10).

Condition In very good condition; minor chips on the edges. Paint partially peeling.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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28 Lamp with a sacrificial scene Roman (Italian production), first half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 9.6 cm (Enlarged)

“These people have ponds with compartments for keeping the varieties of fish separate, as if they were holy and more inviolate than those in Lydia about which, Varro, you used to say that while you were sacrificing, they would come up in schools, at the sound of a flute, to the edge of the shore and the altar, because no one dared catch them.”

Varro, De re rustica, III, 17 (Translated by W.D. Hooper and H.B. Ash)

Lamp molded in an orange clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Flat shoulder. Anvil-shaped nozzle flanked by volutes and pierced by a small vent hole.

Very clearly defined discus. The main figure, on the right, is a woman standing, swaying gracefully, wearing a chiton (tunic) and a himation (long cloak) that she clutches in her left hand at shoulder level. Her hair is covered with a light veil. With her right hand, she pours the contents of a patera (libation bowl) onto a small altar, behind which stands an aulist, wearing a himation and a Phrygian cap, playing the aulos (double flute).

The scene, unique in its genre, is intriguing. Sacrificial representations are indeed rather rare on lamps. The closest parallel is a fragment of a lamp from Carthage, now in the British Museum, showing a minor deity, but depicted with clothes and in a hypostasis very similar to those of our figure. However, this deity holds a cornucopia and is unaccompanied.

Concerning the musician, ancient sources attest that two specific cults included aulists to play liturgical hymns commonly used in the rites of the temples: the cult of Cybele and especially that of Dionysus/Bacchus, in which the flute player was essential to the ritu-

als of mysteries, processions, banquets and sacrifices.

A striking iconographic parallel for our lamp is a scene painted on an Athenian Dionysian cotyla vase (Von Stackelberg 1837, pl. XXXV), where an aulist wearing the same headgear plays for a celebrant, very similar to the one represented here, dancing before an altar.

The swaying of the female figure might therefore be interpreted as an expression of her last dance step performed to the music.

Condition In very good condition; small break on the right of the discus; minor chips.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography VON STACKELBERG O.M., Die Gräber der Hellenen, Berlin, 1837.

29 Lamp with Minerva Roman (central Italian production), first half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic H: 2.7 cm – L: 11.4 cm (Enlarged)

“But from that moment when the impious son of Tydeus, Diomede, and Ulysses inventor of wickedness, approached the fateful Palladium to snatch it from its sacred temple, killing the guards on the citadel’s heights, and dared to seize the holy statue, and touch the sacred ribbons of the goddess with blood-soaked hands: from that moment the hopes of the Greeks receded, and slipping backwards ebbed: their power fragmented, and the mind of the goddess opposed them. Pallas gave sign of this, and not with dubious portents, for scarcely was the statue set up in camp, when glittering flames shone from the upturned eyes, a salt sweat ran over its limbs, and (wonderful to tell) she herself darted from the ground with shield on her arm, and spear quivering.”

Virgil, Aeneid II, 164-175 (Translated by A.S. Kline)

Lamp molded in a hazel clay and covered with a brownish red slip.

Flat shoulder. Anvil-shaped nozzle flanked by volutes and pierced by a vent hole.

Very well preserved discus decorated with a representation of Minerva. The goddess is rendered in left profile, her feet slightly apart. She is dressed in a himation (long cloak) fastened at the waist by an interlaced belt and wears sandals. On her breast appears a gorgoneion (apotropaic amulet) and an aegis (breastplate), represented here by two snakes. Her hair is styled in braids and gathered on the nape of her neck under a large peaked helmet topped by a long plumed crest. She holds a long spear in her right hand, while carrying a round shield on her left arm.

This representation can be regarded as a copy of a cult statue of Pallas Athena, as depicted in the Aeneid. The

attention to detail enables us to identify the aegis on her breast, exactly as described by Homer (Iliad, V, 738742): “Athena threw her tasseled aegis about her shoulders, wreathed round with Rout as with a fringe, and on it were Strife, and Strength, and Panic whose blood runs cold; moreover there was the head of the dread monster Gorgon...” Our lamp is one of the first examples bearing this iconography, represented throughout the first three centuries A.D. (Bailey 1980, p. 13). There are two identical examples, although each is provided with a handle at the back, the first discovered in Trier (Goethert 1985, no. 81, p. 24 and no. 29, pp. 200-201) and the second housed in Budapest (Szentleleky 1969, no. 71, p. 67). Another Italian lamp, found in Montebelluna and now in the National Museum of Treviso, is similar in all respects to ours, except for the rendering of the shield, adorned with a gorgoneion (Zaccaria Ruggiu 1980, no. 122, p. 73 and fig. 122, p. 95).

Condition Complete and in good condition, though cracked and fragile; minor chips.

Provenance Münzen und Medaillen AG, Basel, before 1974; ex-private collection; acquired in 2005.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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30 Ear-lamp representing a wild sow Roman (Italian production), middle of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 12.7 cm (Enlarged)

“And now, lest you think this sleep’s idle fancy, you’ll find a huge sow lying on the shore, under the oak trees, that has farrowed a litter of thirty young, a white sow, lying on the ground, with white piglets round her teats. That place shall be your city, there’s true rest from your labors. By this in a space of thirty years Ascanius will found the city of Alba, bright name.”

Virgil, Aeneid, VIII, 42-48 (Translated by A.S. Kline)

This lamp is proof of the infinite richness of the decorative motifs used to adorn the discuses of Roman lamps in the early Imperial period. In fact, it is an iconographic unicum, no doubt produced in Italy, given the type of lamp, the characteristics of the clay and of the slip and, last but not least, the presence of a planta pedis stamp, or foot-shaped imprint, on the base.

Round lamps with a short nozzle and volute-shaped tenons, known as ear-lamps, were invented in central Italy during the reign of Claudius. They were produced mainly in their place of origin, but also in Africa and in Greece, over approximately three-quarters of a century. Typologically, our example belongs to the first attested series, dated to the mid-1st century A.D. (Bailey 1980, pp. 233-234).

The most interesting element here is certainly the representation of a wild sow sitting on its haunches, with prominent teats, its head raised and its forelegs outstretched, as if waiting to suckle its piglets. This theme can be interpreted in two ways.

According to the abundant allusions to the myths surrounding the foundation of Rome on the lychnological productions of the time, this scene may be linked to the famous lines of Virgil describing to Aeneas the

divine apparition of the white sow, an animal whose color inspired the foundation myth of the city of Alba, as related by Varro (De lingua latina, V, 144, translated

by Roland G. Kent): “The first town of the Roman line which was founded in Latium, was Lavinium; for there are our Penates. This was named from the daughter of Latinus who was wedded to Aeneas, Lavinia. Thirty years after this, a second town was founded, named Alba; it was named from the alba, ‘white’ sow. This sow, when she had escaped from Aeneas’s ship to Lavinium, gave birth to a litter of thirty young: from this prodigy, thirty years after the founding of Lavinium, this second city was established, called Alba Longa, ‘the Long White City’, on account of the color of the sow and the nature of the place.” It is also worth noting that the sow, usually represented with its piglets, occasionally appears on the reverse of Roman coins, from the late Republic until Septimius Severus.

One may, however, favor a more naturalistic hypothesis and connect this image to the many artifacts that represent hunting scenes with wounded wild boar.

In the written sources, an account by Martial (Liber spectaculorum, XII, translated by Walter C.A. Ker), contemporary with our lamp, addresses the theme of the wounded wild boar: “When, amid the cruel hazards of Caesar’s hunt, a light spear had pierced a pregnant sow, there sprang forth one of her offspring from the wound of its unhappy dam. O fell Lucina, was this a birth? Yet would she, wounded by more darts than one, have welcomed death, that a sad path should open for all her brood.”

Nevertheless, this second interpretation seems less plausible, considering that the hundreds of representations of wild boar on these lamps all represent the animal either running or being attacked by one or two dogs. Therefore, the fact that the sow is depicted sitting on its haunches here, clearly showing its promi-

nent teats, is most probably a deliberate allusion to the myth of the Aeneid.

Condition Complete and in excellent condition; minor chips. Burn marks on the nozzle.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

31 Lamp with an acanthus leaf-shaped handle Roman (Campanian production), second - third quarter of the 1st century A.D. Green-glazed ceramic H: 18 cm – L: 40 cm

“A free-born maiden of Corinth, just of marriageable age, was attacked by an illness and passed away. After her burial, her nurse, collecting a few little things which used to give the girl pleasure while she was alive, put them in a basket, carried it to the tomb, and laid it on top thereof, covering it with a roof-tile so that the things might last longer in the open air. This basket happened to be placed just above the root of an acanthus. The acanthus root, pressed down meanwhile though it was by the weight, when springtime came round put forth leaves and stalks in the middle, and the stalks, growing up along the sides of the basket, and pressed out by the corners of the tile through the compulsion of its weight, were forced to bend into volutes at the outer edges. Just then Callimachus, whom the Athenians called Katatêxitechnos for the refinement and delicacy of his artistic work, passed by this tomb and observed the basket with the tender young leaves growing round it. Delighted with the novel style and form, he built some columns after that pattern for the Corinthians, determined their symmetrical proportions, and established from that time forth the rules to be followed in finished works of the Corinthian order.”

Vitruvius, De architectura, IV, 1 (Translated by Morris Hicky Morgan)

Lamp molded in a beige clay and covered with a green lead glaze.

Convex shoulder. Two ogival nozzles flanked by volutes terminating on either side in a horse’s head in high relief. Very clearly defined discus decorated with a rosette arranged around the filling hole. Handle provided with a large reflector in the shape of an acanthus leaf.

This piece is as rare as it is precious, proof of the skills of the Italian potters of that time. It constitutes, to-

gether with its Pompeii “twins”, one housed in the Antiquarium (inv. 76/165 ; Ward Perkins, Claridge, nos 159160, 162, pp. 175-176) and the other in Berlin (Heres 1972, no. 14, pp. 14-15, pl. 4), and also along with the Italian lamp discovered in Kerch and featuring griffins rather than horses’ heads (Waldhauer 1914, no. 220, p. 40, pl.

XXII), the only attested examples of large terracotta lamps that perfectly imitate the contemporary bronze lamps, given the similar shape and rendering and particularly the lead glaze, whose shade is so perfect that it might be taken for real bronze. In other areas of the Empire, especially in the major Greek cities like Corinth, there are similar lamps, but they are all coated with the slips normally reserved for clay lamps (Broneer 1930, no. 409, p. 170, pl. IX). Concerning the bronze prototypes that inspired the artist here, several intact examples are almost identical to ours, including one found at Pompeii (Valenza Mele 1981, no. 60, p. 38) and one housed in the Royal Ontario Museum (Hayes 1984, no. 207, pp. 132-133).

Condition Fragmentary, reglued and repaired (especially the handle and the nozzles).

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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32 Lamp with a feline protome handle Roman, 1st century A.D. Bronze H: 8.4 cm – L: 12 cm (Enlarged)

Bronze lamp supported by a high circular base, with a round shoulder and an ogival nozzle whose sides are angular. The upper body and the upper nozzle are flat and topped by a thin vertical rim. At the back, a semicircular handle terminates above the body of the lamp in a daisy-shaped rosette, from which emerges a feline protome, probably a panther, rendered with great realism. In its open mouth, the feline would have held a ring and a small chain connected to the knob of a removable lid, now lost, that covered the filling hole.

Our example belongs to a transitional type, between the very elongated pear-shaped lamps and the ovalnozzle lamps, dated by scholars to the last third of the 1st century A.D. The closest parallel for this piece, as regards its shape but also the rendering of the feline head, is a lamp found in Pompeii, whose lid is preserved and which differs in that the head emerges from a fourpetaled bud instead of from a rosette and in that the heads of geese in relief appear on both sides of the nozzle (Valenza Mele 1981, no. 290, p. 121).

Condition Complete and in excellent condition, but the lid is now lost; chips. Surface covered with a beautiful grainy green patina.

Provenance Ex-F. Dalq Collection (1878- 1950), Belgium; by descent, private collection, Neuchatel; acquired in 1997.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

33 Lamp with a crescent moon-shaped handle Roman, second half of the 1st century A.D. Bronze L: 16.5 cm (1:1)

This bronze lamp has a wide circular base decorated with a central dot in relief. On its upper body, the large discus is adorned with two circles in relief surrounding the filling hole. The perfectly preserved lid is decorated with concentric circles in relief and provided in its center with a delicate rounded knob surmounted by two small circles that support a tiny globe. The long ogival nozzle has a flat upper surface and terminates, at its junction with the shoulder, in two volutes topped by small imprinted flowers. At the back, a round pierced handle is surmounted by a wide reflector in the shape of a crescent moon.

This is one of the most popular canonical types among the Roman bronze lamps of the Imperial period. Many parallels have been identified, mainly produced in Italy, but also in Asia Minor, and largely commercialized throughout the Empire, as attested by the examples excavated in Dura-Europos (Baur 1947, no. 424), in Germania, in Britain and in the Danubian provinces (Hayes 1984, p. 134). The closest parallels for our example are a lamp found in Pompeii (De Spagnolis and De Carolis 1988, no. 33, p 67, ill. p. 87), two lamps now in Naples (Valenza Mele 1981, nos. 111-112, p. 57) and a lamp now housed in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3636, p. 30, pl. 31). Given the quality of our artifact, it is likely to be an Italian production, Campanian perhaps, dated to the second half of the 1st century A.D.

Condition Complete, with removable lid. Surface covered with a beautiful pale green patina.

Provenance Ex-F. Dalq Collection (1878- 1950), Belgium; by descent, private collection, Neuchatel; acquired in 1997.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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34 Lamp representing the head of an African Roman, second half of the 1st century A.D. Bronze L: 17.4 cm (1:1)

Bronze lamp in the shape of the head of an African, supported by a small hollow round base. The long ogival nozzle, terminating on either side in a right angle, has a flat upper surface topped by a wide vertical rim.

At the junction of the nozzle and the shoulder, there are two very prominent half-volutes, each one pierced so as to hold a ring (only one ring is preserved). These two rings, as well as the one placed on the tenon located on the reflector, were intended to fix the chains that were gathered above the lamp for stable suspension.

the pear-shaped lamps, but also the shape of the reflector’s acanthus leaf, well attested on double-volute lamps, enable us to include our specimen among the Italian productions of the second half of the 1st century A.D.

The head is represented with grotesque features, while combining very realistic elements: a flat nose with wide nostrils, a short beard and a curled mustache framing the wide-open mouth (the lamp’s filling hole), rounded ears, almond-shaped eyes finely rendered under the heavy eyelids highlighted by thick frowning brows and hair carefully arranged in small parallel braids, in the Libyan fashion. At the back, a ringed handle is surmounted by a large reflector in the shape of an acanthus leaf, whose many holes suggest that an additional bronze, silver or even gold decoration was placed here.

Ex-German private collection; acquired from Rupert Wace Ancient Art, London, in 2010.

Our example has no documented parallel, but it can be related, for the features of the mouth framed by the beard and by the mustache, for the overall shape of the head and of the nozzle, as well as for the leafshaped handle, to a lamp in the shape of a satyr’s head, with coarser details than ours, purchased in Antalya and now housed in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul (Atasoy 2005, no. 99, p. 54).

Nonetheless, the careful rendering and especially the typological characteristics of the nozzle and of the simple volutes, similar to those of the transitional pieces between the classical voluted examples and

Condition Complete, but the suspension chain is now lost; chips. Surface covered with a beautiful green patina, partially showing reddish marks.

Provenance

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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35 Lamp with an animal fight (mongoose and snake) Roman (Alexandrian or Micro-Asian production), second half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 13.5 cm (1:1)

“After the Arsinoïte and Heracleotic Nomes, one comes to a City of Heracles, where the people hold in honor the ichneumon, the very opposite of the practice of the Arsinoïtae; for whereas the latter hold the crocodile in honor (...) the former hold in honor the ichneumons, which are the deadliest enemies of the crocodile, as also of the asp; for they destroy not only the eggs of the asps, but also the asps themselves, having armed themselves with a breastplate of mud; for they first roll themselves in mud, make it dry in the sun, and then, seizing the asps by either the head or the tail, drag them down into the river and kill them.”

Strabo, Geographica, XVII, I, 39 (Translated by Horace Leonard Jones)

Lamp molded in a creamy beige clay and covered with a brown slip turning to orange.

Convex shoulder. Ogival nozzle flanked by volutes and pierced by a small vent hole. Above each upper volute, a half egg-and-dart motif is imprinted on the rim of the discus. Very clearly defined discus. On the left, there is a three-stemmed lotus, whose middle stem bears the solar disk, a divine emblem, while that on the outside blooms in a large flower and that on the inside terminates in a heart-shaped leaf. In front of the lotus rises a king cobra, its tail coiled on the ground. Its very naturalistic body is punctuated by incised points and its hooded neck is a long twist. Ready to attack, the snake stares at its enemy with its almond-shaped eye and sticks out its tongue, represented by an incision.

Facing it, a mongoose is also ready to fight. It arches its back, its tail raised above its head. Its mouth partially open and its eye keen, the animal is ready to pounce, its hind legs only still touching the ground. Its fur is rendered by thin incisions, while its long-clawed feet are indicated by parallel striations in relief.

Fights between a mongoose and a snake were particularly popular in the art connected with the so-called “Isiac” cults from the early Roman Imperial period.

Widespread in Lower Egypt as of the late Pharaonic period, veneration of the ichneumon, or Egyptian mongoose, is linked to the sun god Ra, among others. In this case, as for our lamp, it can be associated or even crowned with solar symbols, such as the disk, thus becoming “the image of Ra”. On the lamps, the theme develops through six well documented variants, produced mostly in Italy and in Gaul and exported to the African, Iberian and Danubian provinces.

However, while the location of the animals on our lamp is identical to most of these variants, our example is unique for the quality of its rendering and especially for the details of the plant and the presence of the disk, absent from all the other attested discuses. In this sense, it is probably a specimen faithfully typifying Alexandrian beliefs, featuring as it does two particularly important symbols, the lotus and the solar disk of Ra.

Condition Complete and in very good condition, despite minor chips. Paint partially faded or peeling.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography PODVIN J.-L., Le combat de la mangouste et du serpent sur les lampes à huile romaines, in ROMAN C.-A. and GUDEA N. (eds.), Lychnological Acts 2. Trade and local production of lamps from the prehistory until the middle age (Acts of the 2nd International Congress on Ancient and Middle Ages Lighting Devices, Zalău / Cluj-Napoca, 2006), ClujNapoca, 2008, pp. 213-219 and pl. 146.

36 Lamp with a sphinx-shaped handle Roman (Alexandrian production), 1st century A.D. Green-glazed ceramic L: 11 cm (Enlarged)

Pear-shaped lamp with an oblong body and a long anvil-shaped nozzle flanked by volutes. Drop-shaped base. Small flat drop-shaped discus, delineated by three ridges on its concave part and pierced with a filling hole. Rounded shoulder, adorned with a plant wreath composed of leafy laurel branches, linked to small ribbons and decorated with berries. On each side of the handle, the garland terminates in a bunch of grapes. Small circular handle surmounted by a large reflector in the shape of a sphinx seen frontally with its wings spread.

This piece is unique. It can only be related to other similar objects through its handle, an identical copy of which can be observed on a lamp housed in the Kestner Museum in Hanover (Mlasowsky 1993, no. 272, pp. 262-263). Mlasowsky rightly pointed out that his lamp is a fake, but it shows how the dealer affixed an original-looking handle to a lamp with a coarsely shaped body.

Given the ceramological characteristics of our example, made of a very pure beige clay, but also the accurate and original details, it can likely be considered as an Alexandrian production dated to the 1st century A.D. Condition Complete, still retaining traces of the green glaze (especially on the lower body); minor chips.

Provenance Ex-German private collection; acquired on the German art market in 2010.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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37 Lamp with Triton Roman (Italian or Micro-Asian production), second half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 11.7 cm (Enlarged)

“It was no longer an angry sea, since the king of the oceans putting aside his three-pronged spear calmed the waves, and called sea-dark Triton, showing from the depths his shoulders thick with shells, to blow into his echoing conch and give the rivers and streams the signal to return. He lifted the hollow shell that coils from its base in broad spirals, that shell that filled with his breath in mid-ocean makes the eastern and the western shores sound.�

Ovid, Metamorphoseon, I, 330-335 (Translated by A.S. Kline)

Lamp molded in a creamy beige clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Convex shoulder. Ogival nozzle flanked by volutes and marked by a non-perforated vent hole. Very clearly defined discus decorated with Triton, seen in right profile, emerging from the waves and holding with both hands his conch shell above his head.

The young god is bare-chested, the muscles of his torso and arms emphasized by elaborate reliefs and incisions. He turns backwards with his fine head of hair, as if to look at the fulfillment of his action. Above the surface of the sea that is now calmer, rendered beneath his body by wavy lines, his two serpentine tails, protruding from a loincloth with pointed scales and adorned with printed dots, extend their homocercal fins towards the sky.

This is a unique artifact, with no attested parallel. The very rare examples featuring a similar scene are related or round-nozzle lamps produced in Italy and in Africa, but decorated with Triton in action, a tail on each side of his body, holding the rudder in his left hand and, in the right hand, a smaller conch shell, into which he vigorously blows (Bailey 1988, Q 1878, p. 5).

Condition Complete and in very good condition, despite minor chips. Paint partially faded or peeling.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

38 Lamp with a mythological scene (Nessus and Deianira) Roman (central Italian or Asia Minor production), second half of the 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 11.3 cm (Enlarged)

“But you, fierce Nessus, the centaur, a passion for that same virgin girl destroyed you, hit in the back by a flying arrow. (...) He made good his last words with his actions, shooting the arrow he fired, across, at the fleeing back.

The barbed tip jutted from the centaur’s chest. When the shaft was pulled out, blood, mixed with the deadly arrow-poison of the Lernean Hydra, gushed out simultaneously from the entry and exit wounds. Nessus trapped this, and murmured, to himself of course: ‘I will not die without revenge’ and gave his tunic soaked with warm blood to Deianira, whom he had abducted, presenting it to her as if it were a gift for reviving a waning love.”

Ovid, Metamorphoseon, IX, 98-133 (Translated by A.S. Kline)

This specimen is unique, since the scene is only attested without the kantharos, on later lamps with anvilshaped nozzles produced in the large Cnidian workshop of Romanesis, active between 70 and 130 A.D., like the examples in Berlin (Heres 1972, no. 71, p. 26, pl. 11) and in Mainz (Menzel 1969, no. 159, p. 37, fig. 31.7).

It can be considered as the archetypal complete motif. Whether our lamp is an Italian or, more probably, an Aegean production remains to be determined. The scene is later attested only in Miletus, while the Romanesis version was exported almost exclusively to the eastern Mediterranean basin: Athens, Corinth, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Lebanon and Alexandria.

Condition

Lamp molded in a pale beige clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Slightly convex shoulder. Ogival nozzle flanked by volutes and pierced by a small vent hole.

On the slightly concave discus, the centaur Nessus carries Deianira, the wife of Hercules, on his left shoulder, rendered in right profile. Nessus is positioned in front of a tree with large leaves, his left foreleg bent forward to allow Deianira to descend. With his raised right hand, Nessus holds her right hand, embracing her with his left arm. She is dressed in a long tunic and her hair is adorned with a diadem. Her left hand points to a large high-footed kantharos. The scene perfectly depicts the last moments of Nessus. A spray of blood, rendered by three flame-shaped motifs in relief, gushes from his back, while the kantharos refers to other versions of the text, such as that of Diodorus of Sicily, in which Nessus tells Deianira to mix his blood with oil to obtain the love potion.

In very good condition, despite minor chips. Paint partially faded or peeling.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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39 Firmalampe Roman (Italian production), 20 - 80 A.D. Ceramic L: 15.4 cm (1:1)

“What is of crucial importance is the fact that Roman society and law provided the framework on which a system of branch workshops could be built. (...) In reality it was common practice to set up branch businesses, mainly under the management of slaves or freedmen. The well-to-do habitually lent money to freedmen - generally their own freedmen of course - for the latter to use in commercial enterprises. (...) A less risky mechanism, though it required more supervision, was to appoint institores.�

Harris W. V., Terracotta Lamps: The Organization of an Industry, in The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 70, 1980, pp. 126-145 (p. 140)

The business run by Atimetus had to be so successful that the scholars suggested that one might interpret some Italian lamps as productions of a possible branch established in the vicinity of Rome, while the later examples were certainly manufactured in the workshops of the Danubian regions. In general, the productions bearing this name are attested in Spain, Dacia, Pannonia, Noricum, Raetia, Brittany, Gaul, Germania and Danube Limes (modern-day Bulgaria). Epigraphically, the stamps are diversified, with the signatures ATIME, ATIMET, ATIMETVS, ATIME/F(ecit) and especially ATIMETI all documented.

Lamp molded in a beige clay and covered with an orange slip, now almost lost.

Condition

Slightly convex shoulder. A thick high rim in relief borders both the undecorated discus and the nozzle.

Here, the nozzle takes the form of an elongated semicircle and its wide channel is pierced in the middle by a vent hole. Experimental archeology has shown that such a channel may have been invented to lay the wick when lit in order to augment its performance. The base is flat and defined by four concentric circles. At its center, ATIMETI is stamped in relief.

Provenance

Atimetus was an Italian Firmalampe (factory lamp) maker (Buchi 1975, pp. 9-14; Larese and Sgreva 1997, vol. II, pp. 454-455), whose workshop would have originally been located in Polesine, the Venetian plain surrounding Rovigo, bounded in the east by the Adriatic Sea, in the north by the lower Po, in the south by the Adige and in the west by the rolling plains of the Verona area.

He seems to have been active mostly during the reign of Augustus and in the 80s A.D. Thereafter, his stamp appears consistently, but on provincial artifacts, at least until Trajan.

Complete and in good condition, though slightly cracked; chips.

Ex-American private collection; acquired on the European art market in 2010.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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40 Lamp with the Capitoline Triad Roman (central Italian production), late 1st century A.D. Ceramic L: 15.1 cm (1:1)

“June in fact takes its name from mine. It’s something to have wed Jove, and to be Jove’s sister: I’m not sure if I’m prouder of brother or husband. If you consider lineage, I was first to call Saturn Father, I was the first child fate granted to him.

Rome was once named Saturnia, after my father: this was the first place he came to, exiled from heaven. If the marriage bed counts at all, I’m called the Thunderer’s Wife, and my shrine’s joined to that of Tarpeian Jove.”

Ovid, Fasti, VI, 25-35 (Translated by A.S. Kline)

Lamp molded in a light brown clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Convex shoulder decorated with imprinted ivy leaves.

Round nozzle delineated by two diagonal lines. Small vent hole marked, but not perforated, at the edge of the discus near the nozzle. Planta pedis stamp, or footshaped imprint, at the center of the base.

Very clearly defined discus decorated with three seated Capitoline deities, each wearing a himation (long cloak). At the center sits Jupiter, his open garment revealing his bare chest. The king of the gods raises a long scepter with one hand, while holding a lozenge-shaped object in the other, perhaps a thunderbolt. On the left, Minerva wears a large high-crested helmet. The goddess of wisdom holds a spear in her right hand, while holding the top of a shield in her left hand, rendered in profile and touching the ground. On the right of the composition, Juno is depicted with a veil, sitting on a throne, whose richly molded legs appear. With both hands, the queen of the gods holds a large cornucopia placed on her knees.

The Capitoline Triad is rarely represented on ancient lamps, indeed only between the late 1st century and

the mid-2nd century A.D. Its iconography follows two slightly different versions, the most common being when Juno holds a patera (libation bowl) in her left hand.

Our example belongs to a small group of lamps, such as the one housed in the British Museum, characterized by the cornucopia held by the sister and wife of Jupiter (Bailey 1980, Q 1238, pp. 7 and 309, pl. 62). Furthermore, the rays rendered by concentric lines in relief placed behind the head of the supreme Roman deity, thus referring to him as Sol Invictus, can only be seen on one other lamp. The artifact, similar to ours (including the decoration of the shoulder), comes from the Naples area and is now in the Hermitage Museum (Waldhauer 1914, no. 281, p. 46, pl. XXIX).

Condition Complete, despite minor chips. Paint peeling and partially missing on the handle and on part of the body.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

41 Lamp with Jupiter Roman (Italian production), 50 - 90 A.D. Ceramic L: 21 cm (1:1)

“These same gods Sky and Earth are Jupiter and Juno, because, as Ennius says: That one is the Jupiter of whom I speak, whom Grecians call Air; who is the windy blast and cloud, and afterwards the rain; after rain, the cold; he then becomes again the wind and air. This is why those things of which I speak to you are Jupiter. Help he gives to men, to fields and cities, and to beasties all. Because all come from him and are under him, he addresses him with the words: O father and king of the gods and the mortals. Pater ‘father’ because he patefacit ‘makes evident’ the seed; for then it patet ‘is evident’ that conception has taken place, when that which is born comes out from it.”

Varro, De lingua latina, V, 65 (Translated by Roland G. Kent)

Lamp molded in a beige clay and covered with a dark brownish orange slip.

Convex shoulder. Two ogival nozzles flanked by volutes. At the back, the handle is surmounted by a triangular reflector decorated with a palmette emerging from a double acanthus leaf terminating in volutes.

Very clearly defined discus adorned with the bust of Jupiter seen frontally. The god has thick curly hair, parted in the middle and falling over his ears, where it joins the long, very elegant beard. He wears a tunic with a U-shaped collar and the cape-tail of his himation (long cloak) can be seen on his left shoulder.

Its head is seen in left profile, while its powerful talons hold the thunderbolt, looking like two twisted, pointed branches tied together by a central knot.

The bust of Jupiter together with the eagle and the thunderbolt is one of the most common themes for such lamps. Absent from the repertory of lamps with anvil-shaped nozzles, it appeared as of the Augustan period, precisely on volute lamps with one or two nozzles, and later, until the 4th century A.D. at least, on lamps with round nozzles.

Our example has no close parallel. The rendering of the discus is nevertheless similar to that of a single-nozzle lamp without reflector, discovered in Pozzuoli and now housed in the British Museum (Bailey 1980, Q 948, pp. 8 and 181, pl. 19), as well as several lamps with one or two nozzles, but with crescentic reflectors, excavated in Africa (Bussière 2000, nos. 124-125, pp. 151 and 254, pl. 23). An Italian example, now housed in Hanover, also recalls our lamp in all its morphological characteristics, but it is less precise in the rendering of the discus and in the decoration of the reflector (Mlasowsky 1993, no. 53, pp. 68-69).

Condition Complete and in good condition; handle and one nozzle repaired, chips.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

In front of him are the two symbols of his omnipotence, the eagle and the thunderbolt. The eagle is represented in all its natural splendor, its primary wing feathers spread in a semi-circle upward, while its secondary feathers are rendered in quarter-circles arranged vertically in two rows. Its body is covered with an abundant down, rendered by incised gentle bulges.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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42 Lamp representing a quadriga Roman (central Italian production), last decade of the 1st - first half of the 2nd century A.D. Ceramic L: 11.3 cm (Enlarged)

“Well, I hear what gods have been offended and to whom atonement is due; but I want to know on account of what offences committed by men they have been offended. ‘On account of the games having been carelessly exhibited and polluted.’ What games? I appeal to you, O Lentulus; for the sacred cars and chariots, the singing, the sports, the libations, and feasts of the public games belong to your priesthood; and I appeal to you, O pontiffs, to whom those who prepare the banquet for the all-good and all-powerful Jupiter report it if anything has been neglected or done improperly, and if you give sentence that it shall be so, those ceremonies are celebrated anew and repeated over again.”

Cicero, De haruspicum responsis, X (Translated by C.D. Yonge)

Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

Slightly convex shoulder decorated with two side tenons in relief. Molded and pierced handle adorned with striations. Small round nozzle delineated by a straight groove surmounted by a line of dots. Flat base defined by two incised concentric circles encompassing the printed mark CCLOSVC highlighted by a stamped disk.

On the slightly concave discus, a trotting quadriga (team of four horses abreast) draws a large chariot, or carriage, decorated with tapestries and adorned with plant garlands. The quadriga and the chariot are represented in right profile, on a ground indicated by an undulating line highlighted by parallel strokes in relief.

The details are very accurately rendered. The horses are depicted with their heads held high and their left forelegs raised. Their manes are carefully styled and their necks are adorned with incised harnesses. Their short S-shaped tails are finely groomed for the occa-

sion and their hooves are decorated with braceletshaped ornaments. The carriage, whose very large right wheel has ten spokes and a well defined axle hub, is composed of a square structure surmounted by a triangular tympanum and a leafy canopy.

The inner carriage is protected from the view of the passers-by by lavish draperies, whose folds are rendered by wavy lines. This chariot was first interpreted as a carpentum pompaticum, the two-wheeled covered carriage used only by the senators and the members of the imperial family for their urban travel. However, another more plausible identification can be suggested, that of a tensa (Bémont 2007, D 121-IT 59, p. 91), the sacred vehicle used during the ludi circenses (Circensian circus games, as described by Cicero) to carry the images of deities.

This latter hypothesis is reinforced by the presence of many theater scenes on the lamps of this period, by the absence of representations of transport teams and also by the fact that the carpentum, in the official version as rendered on coins, is always represented drawn by only two animals, horses or mules. In this way, Livia and the wives of the successive emperors until Titus showed the people that they had obtained the sacrosanctitas, the right to inviolability, and thus the privilege to use the carpentum, originally reserved for the Vestals and whose draperies would have protected the priestesses from impure looks when traveling outside the shrine. A final indication linking our example to the tensa is provided by its popularity on lamps, which is such that this iconography was copied by the most renowned potters in Italy and in Tunisia, from the Flavian period to the time of Hadrian, and perhaps even beyond. The motif appears only on lamps with a small round nozzle, with or without tenons on the shoulder.

Our lamp is the only known intact example bearing the mark CCLOSVC, the signature of Caius Clodius Successus, a very productive workshop in central Italy between the late Flavian period and the early Antonine period. Its productions, of the highest quality and showing varied patterns, are well documented on the Italian market, but they were also exported to imperial outposts, especially in North Africa. Among the other signatures on similar lamps, three active central Italian workshops can be mentioned between the late Flavian period and the early Antonine period: COPPIRES (Caius Oppius Restitutus), the most famous and prolific workshop in the vicinity of Rome, NNAELVCI (N. Naevius Lucius) and CATILVEST (Caius Atilius Vestalis).

For Africa (central Tunisia), the following are attested: MNOVGERM (Marcus Novius Germanicus), a workshop active from the late 1st to the early 2nd century A.D., CIVNALE (Caius Iunius Alexis) and CIVNDRAC (Caius Iunius Draco), two workshops active between 120 and 200 A.D. Among the close parallels, several copies are identical to ours in shape, shoulder tenons and decoration: a lamp from Carthage signed MNOVGERM (Deneauve 1974, no 887, p. 190, pl. LXXX), a lamp discovered in Bulla Regia signed CIVNALE (De Cardaillac 1922, no.

88, pp. 76-77), a lamp housed in the Archaeological Museum of Milan signed NNAELVCI (Bessi and Moncini 1980, no. 6, p. 47, pl. 3), a lamp housed in the National Museum of Warsaw signed CIVNDRAC (Bernhard 1955, no. 262, p. 312, pl. LXVII), an unsigned lamp housed in Biassono (Arslan 2001, no. 61, p. 46), a fragmentary lamp housed in the National Library of France (Hellmann 1987, no. 289, p. 76, pl. 37) and two lamps housed in private collections signed MNOVGERM (Dejean 2012, M 206, p. 78, pl. 86) and CIVNALE (Djuric 1995, no. C 142, p. 51). Many lamps

with similar decoration, but without the tenons on the shoulder, are also attested, such as the two examples found in Cherchell (Bussière 2000, nos. 26982699 and 2706, pp. 187 and 335, pl. 71, bibliography).

Condition Complete; chips on the edges. Paint peeling.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

43 Lamp representing a bull’s head Roman, second half of the 1st - 2nd century A.D. Bronze L: 12 cm

Bronze lamp in the shape of a bull’s head on a flat oval base. A wide anvil-shaped nozzle emerges from the mouth of the animal. A circular filling hole is located on top of the skull. At the back is a round handle surmounted by a leaf-shaped reflector. The earlobes are pierced so as to serve, with the double hole located on the muzzle and the ring placed on the reflector, as a means to attach four chains, three of which are still preserved. These chains, when gathered above the lamp, would have ensured stable suspension.

The molded features of the animal are rendered in a very realistic way, as evidenced by the small horns, by the bright eyes, highlighted by massive eyebrows and eyelids, and by the muzzle with the flared nostrils, whose dark circles, coupled with the puffy jowls and the heavy lips, suggest the effort of an angry beast. The incised details, however, are rendered in a stylized manner, with a series of squares for the hair of the animal.

Lamps in the shape of a bull’s head form a very eclectic category. They were produced in limited series, between the 1st century B.C. and the 3rd century A.D., by workshops that were very distant from each other (Italy, Greece, Black Sea, Asia Minor, Egypt) and that created artifacts with a variety of renderings (Chrzanovski 2002).

The popularity of these lamps, attested by their production over a long time, can be explained by the choice of the theme. Throughout the Roman world, the bull is the archetypal sacrificial animal, its sacrifice occurring only in exceptional ceremonies, with a symbolism that reached its acme in the Mithraic cult. For the GrecoRoman religions of Egypt, the bull is Apis, one of the rare gods of the Pharaonic period to have been adopted as such by the Ptolemies, and whose sacrificial death

was followed by a spiritual rebirth in the form of OsirisApis (Serapis in the Hellenistic period).

Therefore, many of these lamps provided with crescentic reflectors could be related to Eastern cults.

Though mainly used in the domestic sphere, the votive purpose of some of them is very likely, considering for instance the large bronze lamp housed in the National Library of France. This lamp has a dedicatory inscription from a certain Lykanis in honor of Pasikrata, a name commonly used in Thessaly (especially in Demetrias) to designate the goddess Artemis (Hellmann 1987, no. 80, pp. 81-82).

The closest parallel for our example is in the National Museum of Rome, a lamp adorned with a crescentic reflector, though more carefully made, especially as regards the hair and the ears, finely rendered in relief (De Spagnolis and De Carolis 1983, no. XXIV, 6, p. 84, ill. p. 92). Our example can therefore be considered as an Italian production from the second half of the 1st or 2nd century A.D. Condition Complete, with chain and suspension hook, and in excellent condition.

Beautiful green patina.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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44 Lamp representing the head of a pygmy Roman, second half of the 1st - early 2nd century A.D. Bronze L: 13 cm (Enlarged)

Bronze lamp in the shape of the head of a pygmy, supported by a small flat round base. A long ogival nozzle terminates on either side in a right angle. The upper surface of the nozzle is flat and has a vertical rim.

Above the forehead, an eight-petaled flower in relief serves as a rim for the filling hole. At the back is a round handle provided with a volute in relief for a better grip.

The earlobes are pierced, probably for decorative purposes. The small size of the holes and the absence of a tenon on the upper lamp would rather lead us to reject their use as a means to attach a suspension chain and to favor the hypothesis that they were meant for earrings, made perhaps of silver or of gold.

Careful observation of the anatomical details of the head, likely to be classified as a Negroid head, enables us to determine a related though different iconography, namely that of the pygmy. Pygmies appear on many Alexandrian masterpieces and their popularity, through Nilotic subjects, allowed them to conquer the houses of the Imperial elite, where they were represented on frescoes as well as on mosaics.

Our head has a wide flat nose and thick lips, distinctive features of the Negroid representations, but it differs from them (characterized by the tightly curled hair) by a mass of curly hair arranged in wavy bangs, while the rest of the head is covered with thick hair dressed in smooth locks starting from the top of the crown.

The contracted facial features offer more information about the activity of the figure. The muscles of the forehead are tensed, increasing the pressure on the arched brows highlighting the bright eyes with the puffy eyelids. Below, also, the nasal muscles are tensed and the cheeks are swollen.

This hypostasis of the pygmy, as a fanner of flames, is well known in Alexandrian art. Indeed, two examples of complete pygmies, each one lying astride a bronze lamp, his head directed towards the nozzle, have recently been discussed and put into context (Pasquier 2008 and 2011).

There is no exact parallel for our artifact. The features of the figure, however, and the shape of the nozzle can be seen in a lamp from Pompeii now housed in the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Valenza Mele 1981, no. 359, p. 153).

Our specimen might therefore be attributed to an Alexandrian workshop, while the shape of the nozzle, similar to that of the transitional lamps between the voluted examples and the pear-shaped lamps, indicates a dating between the second half of the 1st century and the early 2nd century A.D. Condition Complete and in very good condition, but the right ear is now lost; holes at the base of the neck and in the neck. Beautiful bluish green patina.

Provenance Ex-German private collection; acquired before 1980.

Bibliography PASQUIER A., A propos du goût alexandrin: la lampe au pygmée du Musée du Louvre, in Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot 87, 2008, pp. 5-30.

PASQUIER A., Pensées autour d’un chef-d’œuvre du luminaire alexandrin, in CHRZANOVSKI L. (ed.), Facéties lumineuses: Lampes-statuettes antiques d’Alexandrie, Milan 2011, pp. 15-22.

45 Lamp with a lion attacking a bovid South Arabian, 1st - 2nd century A.D. Bronze H: 19 cm – L: 17 cm (1:1)

Bronze lamp composed of an open oval body, with a pinched nozzle, supported by a small hollow dropshaped base. The sides of the lamp are richly decorated in relief with interwoven ivy leaves and stems. At the back is a mask recalling the classical gorgoneion, a head seen frontally, framed by thick serpent-like locks of hair knotted under the chin. The upper body is decorated with half-volutes on the nozzle and with small triangles in relief on the shoulder.

This lamp is especially remarkable for its handle, starting at the back with a flat ribbon adorned with incised ridges and emerging from two half-volutes. Standing on its hind legs, a lion attacks a young bovid, gripping its head with its sharp-clawed paws. The unfortunate bovid, also on its hind legs, arches its back on a narrow band near the nozzle.

Our example can be included in a rare series of lamps inspired by Roman and Byzantine objects manufactured in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. While the overall shape of our lamp is well attested, this specimen is unique as regards the handle in relief. Each of all the related examples currently identified feature a handle adorned with an ibex, either as a complete animal or in the form of a protome. The closest parallels are therefore a lamp discovered in Hadhramaut (Aden) and housed in the British Museum (inv. no. 102477; Nielsen 1927, p. 171), a lamp from Shaubat (Yemen) now housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna (Branca 2000, no. 185, p. 238) and two Arabian lamps now housed in the Louvre (Calvet and Robin 1997, nos.

167-168, pp. 243-244).

Such pieces may in all likelihood be attributed to Yemenite workshops or to production centers located in the countries neighboring Yemen, but their chronol-

ogy is still under discussion. Some scholars suggest that they were produced between the 1st and the 2nd century A.D., while others favor a much later period, between the 5th and the 6th century A.D. The first hypothesis appears to be more plausible, although it is based mainly on the epigraphic analysis of the inscription incised on the lamp housed in Vienna.

Condition Complete, despite minor breaks (especially on the bottom of the lamp); tail of the lion broken, left foreleg of the bovid repaired. Brownish red surface.

Provenance Ex-Georges Moro Collection, Paris, France and Germany, late 1970searly 1980s; Christie’s, London, April 14, 2011, Lot 344.

Bibliography BRANCA M. (ed.), Yemen, Nel paese della Regina di Saba, Rome, 2000.

CALVET Y. and ROBIN C. (eds), Arabie heureuse. Arabie déserte. Les antiquités arabiques du Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1997.

NEILSEN D., Handbuch der altarabischen Altertumskunde. I. Band: Die altarabische Kultur, Copenhagen, 1927.

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46 Lamp representing a dove Roman, early Imperial period Silver, garnet (eyes) H: 11 cm – L: 14 cm (1:1)

This astonishing lamp is in the shape of a sitting dove ready to swallow a berry. An irremovable lid, in the form of a shell surmounted by a stem with a small knob, ornaments the back of the bird.

rendering from ours, aside from the Byzantine lamp in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, on which the turtle dove adopts an almost identical posture (BĂŠnazeth 2001, no. 149, p. 169).

This is a unique piece in all respects. It is primarily outstanding for the material that the artist chose, silver, which is unattested on tank lamps and whose use for such an item only appears in Late Antiquity, when this precious metal was used to create the polycandela (lamps intended to carry several glass lamp cups) that adorned the richest Eastern churches.

Among the elaborate bronze lamps of the Imperial period and of the early Byzantine period, three lamps, each in the shape of a duck, in the Leo Mildenberg Collection (Rosenthal-Heginbottom 1999, fig. 73, 88 and 89) present a number of details strikingly similar to our silver lamp. The first example (fig. 88), a High Imperial lamp in the shape of a standing duck, has an almost identical treatment with regard to the details of the wing feathers and of the down, as well as the rendering of the beak. Moreover, as with our lamp, the head is turned to the right and its open beak would have also held a berry. The second example (fig. 73), dated between the 4th and the 7th century A.D., is positioned like our dove, but the bird is depicted cleaning its plumage with its beak, while the rendering of the details is rather poor. The third example (fig. 89), a suspension lamp dated to the same period, also represents a sitting duck, its raised head looking forward, holding a berry in its beak. Another lamp from the 1st century A.D., now in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3601, p. 21, pl. 21), is in the shape of a sitting duck holding a berry between its beak and its neck. The fine rendering of the feathers recalls that of our example, as well as the overall shape of the body and the beak.

In light of all the above-mentioned elements, this masterpiece can be tentatively dated to the early Imperial period. Furthermore, it can be attributed to an Egyptian or even to a central Italian workshop, given the fine and realistic details and especially the shape of the beak with the protruding half-volutes, a morphological feature that seems to disappear at the latest in the 3rd century A.D.

Taking into account the ductility of the material, it is very likely that our lamp was never actually utilized, since the whole body would have become red-hot when lighting the wick and burning the oil. This masterpiece was probably commissioned as an offering to a specific deity, like the famous golden lamp offered by Nero in the Temple of Venus Pompeiana (De Caro 1998).

The eclectic choice of subject from the animal world should also be emphasized. Bird-shaped statuettelamps, of terracotta or of bronze, are rare and undocumented, with few exceptions, in Egypt and the Near East. Two species, the duck and especially the peacock, appear to be particularly appreciated from the Imperial period until the Byzantine period (no. 77 and no. 79).

Doves (or turtle doves) pecking seeds on a branch are quite common on the discuses of terracotta lamps from the 1st to the 3rd century A.D. (Bailey 1988, pp.

81-82), while they are rarely attested as lamps in their own right, except in Byzantine and later Muslim Egypt (Hayes 1984, no. 213, p 137; BĂŠnazeth 2001, nos. 149-151, pp. 169-171). These examples have, however, a different

Condition Complete and in excellent condition; minor deformations on the body, small cracks.

Provenance Dr Hans-Ulbo Bauer, Cologne, around 1962; ex-private collection, southern Germany; acquired in 1996.

Bibliography BENAZETH D., Catalogue général du Musée copte du Caire, 1. Objets en métal (Mémoires de l’IFAO 119), Paris, 2001.

DE CARO S., La lucerna d’oro di Pompei. Un dono di Nerone a Venere pompeiana, in I culti della Campania antica. Atti del convegno internazionale di studi in ricordo di Nazarena Valenza Mele (Napoli 15-17 maggio 1995), Rome, 1998, pp. 239-244.

ROSENTHAL HEGINBOTTOM R., Animals on Roman Lamps, in A.A.V.V., “Couched as a lion... who shall rouse him up” (Genesis 49:9). Depictions of Animals from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Haifa, 1999, pp. 47-53.

47 Lamp representing a sitting rooster Roman (Egyptian production), 1st - 2nd century A.D. Ceramic L: 13.3 cm (Enlarged)

Rare example of a three-dimensional lamp in the shape of a sitting rooster. The bird is carefully detailed, with incisions that were added after the molding. The feathers are rendered by small lines, while the eyes, the ears and the details of the comb are marked by deeper incisions. Under the head of the bird, a wick was inserted in the long protruding nozzle. The filling hole is pierced at the top of the artifact between the two wings. At the base of the upper neck, a drilled lug allowed the lamp to be suspended.

Roosters, whose images were very popular on the discuses of Roman Imperial lamps, seem to have been manufactured in the form of statuette-lamps only in Egypt. This bird, absent in the pre-Alexandrian iconography, indeed became extremely popular both in the Ptolemaic and in the Roman bestiary, as attested by many statues, in addition to the lamps that are still preserved.

Our lamp can most likely be included among the Egyptian productions of the late 1st and the 2nd century A.D. Its closest parallels are two lamps and a fragment from Antinopolis, now housed in the Louvre (Dunant 1990, nos. 893-895, p. 296).

Condition Complete and in very good condition, but slightly cracked in places.

Abundant traces of red paint on the entire lamp.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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48 Lamp with three nozzles Roman Judea, early Imperial period (1st - early 2nd century A.D.) Ceramic D: 23.8 cm

Round lamp provided with three nozzles with rounded ends, flanked by large volutes, all showing traces of combustion and decorated in relief with a trifid palmette for each of the two outer nozzles and with a Corinthian capital for the central nozzle. Flat base, delineated by a ring in relief and decorated at its center with a geometric pattern in relief. Very large discus roughly pierced by three filling holes.

The decoration of the artifact is as eclectic as it is novel. On both sides of the discus appears the same pattern in relief, a drunken elderly satyr, Silenus, riding a donkey. The animal seems to be at rest, while the figure, naked but for a garment draped between his legs, is tilted backwards. With his left hand, he leans back on the rump of the animal, while retaining the thyrsus (sacred staff) that Dionysus gave him. In his raised right hand, he holds an object, probably a cup. On the discus, adjacent to the nozzles, a menorah (Jewish seven-branched lampstand) is illustrated by an accurate series of dots in relief. Opposite, a bunch of grapes is represented in the same technique.

in Hebrew), from the southern zone of Judea, where they were almost always manufactured with a single nozzle each and without discus. The iconographical elements of a Darom lamp, namely Jewish ritual symbols and plant ornaments, were distributed on the nozzle and on the shoulder (Sussman 2012, pp. 113-141). Although the peak of their production was between 70 and 135 A.D, these lamps and closely related examples were still attested in the late 2nd century A.D. This is a unique piece of great historical value. In fact, the period is one during which the Jewish nonmaritime lamps produced in Judea differ totally from the Roman lamps, by their shape and especially by their iconoclasm, displaying only a limited series of well known motifs in relief, first and foremost the menorah, but also the bunch of grapes present in our example (Sussman 1982). In this same region, the discuses of Roman lamps that represented unwanted images were deliberately broken (Tal and Teixeira Bastos 2012).

The elements composing this lamp are all very different. On the one hand, the Silenus and his mount appear to be an over-molding of a pattern carved on the discus of a Roman lamp, or indeed a relief of terra sigillata, like the small ornaments that decorate the nozzles. On the other hand, the menorah and the bunch of grapes have been added into the mold in the simplest technique, by imprinted dots that, once the lamp came out of its mold, created small dots in relief.

In this context, the addition of a pattern obviously borrowed from a Greco-Roman repertory, the drunken Silenus on a donkey, is somewhat intriguing. There are no documented parallels for this combination of elements, even though there are a number of lamps that depict a Silenus on a donkey as a completely drunk figure, dressed in an animal skin and lying on his mount (Bailey 1980, p. 18). The motif is, however, well documented on other terracotta items and on marble reliefs, in particular on a stele in the National Library of France.

The lamp and its typological characteristics are also a mixture of styles. The large round discus is clearly inspired by the Classical Roman lamps, but the nozzles are typical of the Darom lamps (darom means “south�

So, how to explain such an astonishing mix? There is very little information on this, but it is noteworthy that Dionysian patterns, even when rejected on lamps, remained very popular in Judea and in the neighboring

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regions. Grapes and wine, symbols of the Promised Land, as written in the stories about the explorers of Canaan, certainly facilitated the adoption of bacchanalian motifs in this area. The most beautiful example, and probably the latest, since it is dated to the 5th century A.D., depicts a drunken Silenus riding a donkey in a scene from the rich polychromatic Dionysian mosaic from Sheikh Zuweid in northern Sinai (Olszewski 2002, p. 50).

Another hypothesis for our lamp would be to consider that the motif of the satyr, obtained by a molding from a casting and having lost all its details, was placed on the lamp to suggest a representation of Balaam, the prophet sent by the king of Moab to cast a curse on the Israelites, when an angel stood in his way and stopped the donkey that he was riding. Balaam then became Balak and blessed three times the people he was supposed to curse (Numbers, 22-24).

Condition Complete, but cracked and fragile. Traces of red paint and burn marks on the nozzles. Old hand-written labels under the base.

Provenance Ex-private collection; Christie’s, New York, December 12, 2002, Lot 316.

Bibliography OLSZEWSKI M.T., La mosaïque de “style naïf” de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï, in Archeologia (Warsaw), LIII, 2002, pp. 45-61.

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49 Lamp representing a pair of feet Roman (Egyptian production), 2nd century A.D. Ceramic L: 15.2 cm (1:1)

Representations of feet wearing sandals, single or in a pair, are among the most popular subjects on Imperial lamps in full relief, whether in bronze or in terracotta.

The enthusiasm for this part of the human anatomy is closely related to the Eastern cults, especially that of Serapis, whose strength was thought to come from his feet. Shod feet have both an essential apotropaic purpose, Serapis being known to walk over death without fear thanks to his heavy footwear, and a fundamental role of divine revelation regarding the mysterious aspect of this religion. According to many sources, Serapis emerged in a dream from a colossal foot, a sort of reinterpretation of the resurrection of the dismembered Osiris, to better inform the oracles guiding the believers. The faithful, therefore, in Alexandria and later in the rest of the Empire, usually offered ex-votos in the form of footprints.

Our lamp is in the shape of two closely joined feet shod with sandals. The straps on either side of each foot gather together before passing between the first two toes of each foot. Above the ankles, two flat disks form the top of the lamp. Between these two flat surfaces, a shell in relief is centrally pierced by the filling hole. A ribbon handle is applied at the rear.

Our example belongs to the large group of foot-shaped lamps, which includes the rarer subgroup of lamps representing a pair of feet (Santoro-L’Hoir 1983). Produced mainly in Italy and in Egypt during the first two centuries A.D., the latter may differ from each other by the decoration of the handles, often adorned with a reflector, but also by the configuration of the nozzles. Most of them are provided with a single nozzle, emerging in front of the two big toes, while still rarer examples have two nozzles, either incorporated in the body or, like here, protruding from the big toes.

There is no close parallel for our lamp, although the rendering of the feet can be compared to two examples in the Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, each of which is, however, provided with a single nozzle (Tran Tam Tinh and Jentel 1993, nos. 457-458, pp. 329330). Our lamp can therefore be considered as a production from the Nile Delta, probably dated to the 2nd century A.D. Condition Complete and in good condition; surface partially covered with concretions, minor traces of red paint.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography DELESTRE X., Contribution à l’étude des lampes antiques en forme de pied, in Revue Archéologique du Centre, 18 (1979), p. 175.

SANTORO-L’HOIR F., Three Sandalled Footlamps: Their Apotropaic Potentiality in the Cult of Serapis, in Archäologischer Anzeiger 98, 1983, pp. 225-237.

50 Lamp representing the half head of a satyr Roman, 1st - 3rd century A.D. Bronze L: 16.6 cm (1:1)

This bronze lamp is in the shape of the left half head of a bearded satyr and is placed on a semi-circular base. The companion of Dionysus is portrayed bald, his forehead encircled by a garland of vine branches with finely rendered leaves that cover his temple and terminate in a small bunch of grapes. The twisted lamp handle recalls the goat’s horns that crown the head of this zoomorphic being, when mature. The anatomical details are depicted meticulously and with great naturalism: the broad nose, the wide-open eye beneath the prominent forehead, the small rounded ear, the thick curly beard, the sensual lips. The filling hole is pierced in the corner of the mouth. The beard terminates in a protruding nozzle, just below the suspension ring. On the perfectly flat side of the piece is a rectangular area delineated by a thin incision and whose color is slightly different from the rest of the lamp. This is the trace left by the soldering of the tenon in relief, now lost, which allowed this half head to be joined to its other half, identical but provided with a rectangular indentation into which the tenon of our example could have been inserted.

Iconographically, there are no documented close parallels for our lamp, although satyrs’ heads are well attested among bronze lamps in relief. Examples composed of two perfectly functional halves are, however, very rare, numbering fewer than ten. The only specific study on such objects (Franken 2005) reveals that this truly admirable artistic achievement seems to have long been popular among the Roman elite, since the dating of the listed examples varies between the 1st and the 3rd century A.D. The subjects represented are diverse: two tragic theater masks, two heads of Africans, a boar’s head and only one satyr’s head (or comic theater mask), whose rendering differs from ours, discovered in Aquileia and now housed in the

Archaeological Museum of Milan (Sapelli 1986, no. 6, pp. 223-226).

The exact use of these lamps, beyond their utilitarian purpose, is still under discussion. Franken suggests, in an interesting hypothesis, that such artifacts were specifically commissioned for the wedding or the departure of a loved one, with each member of the couple keeping one half of the object (Franken 2005, p. 128).

Condition Remarkably preserved, but the right half of the head is lost. Surface covered with a beautiful green patina; concretions. At the back, traces of the attachment system between the two halves.

Provenance Ex-private collection; Sotheby’s, New York, Antiquities and Islamic Art, December 12-13, 1991, Lot 97.

Published Phoenix Ancient Art 2005 No. 1, Geneva-New York, 2005, no. 65.

Bibliography FRANKEN N., Nur eine technische Spielerei? Bemerkungen zu zweiteiligen Kopflampen aus Bronze, in CHRZANOVSKI L. (ed.), Lychnological acts, 1. Actes du 1er Congrès international d’études sur le luminaire antique, Montagnac, 2005, pp. 123-130.

SAPELLI M., Le lucerne metalliche delle Civiche raccolte archeologiche di Milano, in Scritti in ricordo di G. Massari Gaballo e di U. Tocchetti Pollini, Milan, 1986, pp. 219-229.

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51 Lamp representing a grotesque mask Roman, 1st century - first half of the 2nd century A.D. Ceramic L: 13.5 cm (Enlarged)

Terracotta lamp whose top is in the shape of a theater mask. The lamp was applied before the firing process to a conical candelabrum with a small cup, whose upper part only is preserved. The small round nozzle sticks out of the beard of the figure, while the filling hole is formed by the open mouth.

The mask has grotesque features mixed with realistic elements, typical of the satyrs and other mythological beings with an almost human appearance that inhabited the classical theatre plays. A broad flattened nose, the exaggeratedly full lips, the swollen cheeks, the huge ears and the thick arched brows contrast with the careful and anatomically accurate rendering of the eyes, of the curly hair, of the elaborate mustache and of the meticulous beard.

Our example is unique by its skillful workmanship, but also by the presence of the affixed candelabrum. While there are many close parallels for lamps in the shape of theater masks, as well as for terracotta candelabra surmounted by a classic-shaped lamps, the combination of a tall molded support with an anthropomorphic lamp has not yet been attested elsewhere.

Given its ceramological characteristics, our piece was probably manufactured by an Italian craftsman in the 1st century A.D. or in the first half of the 2nd century A.D., who would have been inspired by an original bronze.

Condition Body of the lamp partially fragmentary; candelabrum stem lost. Burn marks on the hair.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, Munich; acquired on the German art market in 2000.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

52 Statuette-lamp in the shape of the head of Harpocrates Egyptian, Roman period (2nd - 3rd century A.D.) Ceramic H: 10.8 cm (1:1)

“Harpocrates with his finger makes a sign to me to be quiet.”

Varro, De lingua latina, V, 10 This piece illustrates a unique artistic movement that originated in Egypt in the 1st century B.C., namely the “fusion” of two artifacts, the lamp and the terracotta statuette. It is an outstanding achievement from all points of view. In fact, the thoughtful and deliberate act of giving to a terracotta object the ability to illuminate - or at least to self-illuminate - was certainly not, either for the craftsman or, at the other end of the business chain, for the client, for whom it was made, an innocent act. Statuettes with a religious theme are known to have been often placed in niches specially created in the walls of houses. These humble and personal places of worship allowed their owners to daily honor the gods that they worshiped and also to communicate with the members of their family who had passed away and gone to the afterlife. In these niches, “ordinary” statuettes, as opposed to statuette-lamps, were simply accompanied by lamps that were lit for the meditation, such a highly symbolic gesture that it entirely reflects the link between the human and the divine.

Our example of these truly innovative lamps is of the highest quality. It represents the head of Harpocrates, or the child Horus, whose votive importance is emphasized by the integration of a lamp in the base of the artifact, while the two nozzles emerge either side of his neck.

Harpocrates, the god of silence and secrecy, is a joyful deity, who encourages philosophy and science. The son of Isis and of Serapis for the Romans, he is a thinker and a healer. Seated on a lotus flower, he embodies the new sun rising every day. This child is a happy god, well

liked and often smiling, as attested by many bronze and terracotta specimens. In the Roman period, he is often placed at the entrance to the eastern temples, where he encourages the worshipers to indulge in meditation and to exercise respect.

The image is full of bonhomie, with the baby-faced Harpocrates represented halfway between realism and a deliberate exaggeration of the full features signifying prosperity. The young god has a chubby face, with highlighted ruddy cheeks and a prominent chin, as well as the heavy eyelids and the wide-open eyes of the boy waking up at sunrise, his tongue pressed between his full lips, as if he had begun to whistle a tune. The basket headgear and the two large round adornments falling towards his shoulders are a sure sign of the awakening of nature and the omen of a bountiful harvest. Finally, the braids of hair arranged in curls constitute a symbol of the innocence of childhood. According to the Egyptian custom, this hair was solemnly shaved at puberty.

The very top of the statuette is lost. Considering the closest parallels, this was the pschent, the double crown of the pharaohs representing the unification of the Two Lands, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, traditionally surmounted by the uraeus, a royal cobra in attack position, symbol of the pharaohs, conferring on Harpocrates the power of a young king.

There are many Egyptian terracotta pieces, with or without lamps, in the shape of the head of Harpocrates. Very popular, they were produced between the late Ptolemaic period and the first three centuries of the Empire. In this repertory, by far the closest parallel for our example is the lamp discovered in Antinopolis, now in the Louvre (Dunand 1990, no. 958, p. 317), dated to the 2nd-3rd century A.D. Among the artifacts provided with two lamp nozzles inserted into the base

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of the statuette, like our example, one should mention two lamps, acquired in Cairo, housed in the Schloessinger Collection (Rosenthal and Sivan 1978, nos. 609610, p. 148). Although the second specimen is very poorly rendered, the first is morphologically identical to ours, differing only by the artistic choices in the details of the face, of the hair and of the crown. Another close parallel is the statuette-lamp found in Ehnasya in Lower Egypt (Petrie 1905, pl. XLVIII, no. 49).

Condition Complete, except for the lost crown; neck and handle broken; traces of concretions. Firing hole pierced at the back. Old hand-written label glued on the left of the nape.

Provenance Ex-N.A.C. Embiriscos private collection, Great Britain, collected in the 1950s-1960s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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53 Lamp representing two fishermen Roman (Tunisian production), last quarter of the 2nd - first quarter of the 3rd century A.D. Ceramic L: 13.4 cm (Enlarged)

“One night against the leafy wall of a wattled cabin there lay together upon a bed of dry tangle two old catchers of fish. Beside them were laid the instruments of their calling; their creels, their rods their hooks, their weedy nets and lines, their weels and rush-woven lobster-pots, some netropes, a pair of oars, and upon its props an aged coble.

Beneath their heads lay a little mat, and for coverlets they had their jackets of frieze.�

Theocritus, Idylls, XXI

Carthage (Bailey 1988, Q 1715, p 46). One should also mention other lamps with two fishermen in a boat, either in a semicircular harbor or in front of a two-story monumental building (Deneauve 1974, nos. 1044-1049, p. 212, pl. XCV). Our lamp has three identical parallels.

The first, signed PVLLAE/NORV, was discovered in the necropolis of Carthage (De Cardaillac 1922, no. 86, p.

75), while the other two are housed in museums in Berlin (Heres 1972, no. 112, p. 32, pl. 15) and in Mainz (Menzel 1969, no. 338, p. 59).

Lamp molded in a hazel clay and covered with a brownish red slip.

Condition

(Translated by J.M. Edmonds)

Flat shoulder. Triangular nozzle flanked by volutes and adorned on top with an inverted pyramid pattern.

Complete, but chipped (especially on the neck of the nozzle). Paint faded on discus.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Very clearly defined discus decorated with two fishermen seated on the rocks of a cliff. Each figure is barefoot and wears an exomis (tunic) fastened by a belt and a straw hat with a wide brim. The fisherman on the left casts his net into the water, while the one on the right fishes with a line. In the background, a romantic landscape features two trees and a circular domed shrine supported by three columns. The tree on the left, whose trunk seems to emerge from the shrine, is leafless and dead, while the one on the right, whose branches were obviously cut in order not to endanger the small edifice, has two branches of dense foliage.

This is a rare example of late Tunisian production of the highest quality, whose bucolic motifs are remarkable. In addition to that of our specimen, mention should be made of a related composition depicting the same fisherman on the left of the cliff, but where the other man is on a boat, with a background representing a large harbor and several buildings, perhaps

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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54 Lamp representing a traveler and a bear Roman (Tunisian production), late 2nd - early 3rd century A.D. Ceramic L: 10.9 cm (Enlarged)

“Two men were traveling together, when a Bear suddenly met them on their path. One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and concealed himself in the branches. The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the Bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could. The Bear soon left him, for it is said he will not touch a dead body. When he was quite gone, the other Traveler descended from the tree, and jocularly inquired of his friend what it was the Bear had whispered in his ear. ‘He gave me this advice,’ his companion replied. ‘Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger. Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.’”

Aesop, Fables: The Bear and the Two Travelers, VI, 254 (Translated by George Fyler Townsend)

Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Flat shoulder decorated with ivy and vine leaves.

Round nozzle with a heart-shaped surface. Very clearly defined discus pierced by a small vent hole.

The decoration is almost unique. On the left, a bearded man in profile walks in a hurry, looking over his shoulder. Barefoot, he wears a tunic covered by a hooded paenula and holds in his left hand a little bag provided with a handle. Gaping and frowning, his face expresses the fear inspired by the bear that pursues him.

The bear is depicted with its mouth open, standing on its hind legs, its front paws, with claws out, extended towards the unfortunate fleeing figure. The characteristics of the beast are accurately detailed: ears in relief, large eyes, muzzle punctuated by small dots and fur

rendered by regular incisions. Its strength and its vigor are reflected in the folds in the fur of the neck and in the tensed shoulder muscles, rendered by incisions on the back.

The novel representation on this lamp recalls the theme of one of Aesop’s fables. One must note the paenula of the figure, a garment much appreciated by travelers as of the 3rd century A.D., while it was first reserved for soldiers and for the common people.

Moreover, the paenula is also worn by the fox talking to the crow perched in a tree, the only attested representation of an Aesop fable on lamps, specifically created by the Italian workshops between the late 1st and the mid-2nd century A.D. Another hypothesis, less probable though more cautious, identifies in this scene an animal having escaped its trainer, or an allegory about the dangers of the wild natural world, since a bear attacking a toddler is a well documented scene on African lamps dated to the 2nd century A.D. (Bussière 2000, no. 457, p. 179).

The origin and the dating of this lamp are suggested by the V-shaped incisions terminating in volutes that adorn the circular band on the base of the lamp. Similar marks, as well as the decoration on the shoulder composed of leaves in relief, can be seen on many African lamps (Bussière 2012, no. 219, pp. 194-195).

Two parallels can be mentioned: two lamps, housed in private collections, similar in all respects to our example, but made from a much used mold (Dejean 2012, L 754 and L 558 (= Gorny & Mosch cat 163, no. 497 and cat. 154, no. 476)).

Condition Complete and in excellent condition, despite minor chips.

Provenance Ex-French private collection, 2005; acquired on the European art market in 2011.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

55 Three-footed candelabrum Gallo-Roman, 2nd - 3rd century A.D. Bronze and polychromatic enamel H: 66.7 cm

This elegant candelabrum was intended to hold a small cup, now lost, in which the wealthy Romans used to place their finest bronze lamps.

The artifact is composed of a trumpet-shaped base decorated with enameled petals and supported by three S-shaped feet, each adorned with a ribbon featuring a polychromatic series of heart-shaped motifs, above which is an element in relief, in the shape of a griffin’s head, one of them still gripping a bronze ring in its beak. The tubular stem of the candelabrum is decorated with rows of hatching in alternating directions and in various colors. At the top of the stem, four incised pommels are surmounted by a four-petaled flower in the round, from the center of which emerges a fluted shaft intended to fix the cup.

This piece is unique. To our knowledge, this is the first documented lamp with colored champlevé enamel (white, red and blue).

The champlevé technique, in which troughs or cells are carved into the surface of the bronze and filled with vitreous enamel, is very rare in the Roman period.

The region in which such objects were produced is perfectly well defined.

Except for a small censer from Crimea (Karabelnik 1993, no. 97, pp. 188-189), all the documented pieces are considered as Gallo-Roman (central and northern Gaul, Britain) and dated between the 1st and the 3rd century A.D. There are more than fifty objects, mostly fibulae, but also some pyxides (Thierry 1962), a beautiful vessel and a bottle housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum (True and Hamma 1994, no. 150, pp. 289-291 and no. 165, pp. 318-319) and many decorative elements, probably belonging to a parade chariot, housed in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 2001, p. 11).

Our example can most likely be included in this limited series of objects, in which it clearly forms one of the finest pieces.

Condition Complete, but reassembled from several reglued fragments. White, red and blue enamel partially preserved.

Provenance Ex-American private collection, collected in the 1970s-1980s; Merrin Gallery, New York, 1990s; Sotheby’s, New York, Antiquities, December 9, 2004, Lot 303.

Published Phoenix Ancient Art 2006 No. 1, Geneva-New York, 2006, no. 31.

Bibliography KARABELNIK M. (ed.), Aus den Schatzkammern Eurasiens: Meisterwerke antiker Kunst, Zurich, 1993.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin: Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, Fall 2001, p. 11.

THIERRY N., A propos d’une nouvelle pyxide d’époque romaine à décor d’émail “millefiori”, in Antike Kunst, 5, 1962.

TRUE M. and HAMMA K. (eds.), A Passion for Antiquities: Ancient Art from the Collection of B. and L. Fleischman, Malibu, 1994.

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56 Lamp representing a foot with a sandal Roman (Near Eastern production), 2nd - 4th century A.D. Bronze H: 6.9 cm – L: 11.6 cm

Lamp in the shape of a foot wearing a sandal with a thick pointed sole. A ribbed strap covers the heel, attached to the ankle with a knot decorated with trefoil plant stems. The toes and the toenails are treated in relief, with the big toe up against the rim of the wide tubular nozzle of the lamp. At the back, above the ankle, a lid is attached to the lamp by a hinge. Flat and round in shape, the lid is surmounted by a cross, supported by a volute in relief at the rear. Three rings on each side of the ankle and on the big toe serve as a means to attach the chains allowing the lamp to be suspended.

Our example illustrates a very popular theme among Near Eastern bronze lamps of the 2nd to the 4th century A.D., that of the shod foot. Eight lamps similar to ours have been found (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 12.001 to LA 12.008, pp. 194-196.), but their rendering is sometimes richer. The soles are often nailed, which is not the case here. However, the main difference between all these artifacts lies in the decorative motif of the lid, which may be a geometrical ornament, a bird or a theater mask.

Our lamp is one of the few examples to feature a cross, like the one incised on the lid of a lamp in the Malcove Collection at the University of Toronto (Campbell 1985, no. 45, p. 51). In this regard, the only exact parallel is a lamp housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv.

62.10.2), in all respects identical to ours but with neater details. Acquired on the art market, it is considered by the Museum’s curators as a Syrian production from the 5th century A.D.

Condition Complete, with lid and suspension device (chain and rings), and in very good condition. Grainy green patina, reddish concretions in places.

Provenance Ex-Professor Adolphe Goumaz Collection, Switzerland, collected in the 1960s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

57 Silver dish Roman, 4th century A.D. Silver D: 16.5 cm (1:1)

This sumptuous Roman silver dish perfectly shows the most important offering that a worshiper could make to the gods: a sacrifice. The scene, a real snapshot of the time, features a young priest dressed in a tunic with an open V-neck and, hanging from his left arm, a himation (long cloak). His curly hair is adorned with a crown of laurels. With his right hand, he drags a recalcitrant goat by the horn, while holding pomegranates against his abdomen. Coming out of the woods, represented by a leafy tree on the left of the composition, the figure brings the offerings to a richly decorated altar, on which the fire has already been lit. Behind the altar start the steps of a large staircase leading to a small temple. The entrance is flanked by two columns surmounted by acanthus leaf capitals, between which stands a statue of Minerva. The goddess, dressed in a himation and with sandals on her feet, has a breastplate adorned with a gorgoneion (apotropaic amulet).

She wears a large high-crested helmet surmounted by a snake. She holds a spear in her outstretched right hand, while carrying a shield on her left arm, rendered in profile and touching the ground. Above the composition appears Helios, or Sol Radiatus, richly dressed, waving his right hand, while holding the globe in his left hand. He has just arrived with his quadriga (team of four horses abreast), as evidenced by the exhausted features of the four rearing horses, neighing after their breathless gallop.

Next to Helios is a hammered inscription. It reads, in Greek characters, “Nonnos, worshiper of the cult of Pallas, made an offering.”

The origin and dating of such dishes have been the subject of many discussions. A number of experts believe that the pagan nature of most of them excludes a dating later than the 3rd century A.D. Concerning our

example, the term ΠΡΟΧΚΥΝΕΤΕΧ (worshiper) only seems to appear in the late 2nd century A.D., thus establishing a terminus post quem (very earliest date) for our masterpiece. However, the dish can be related stylistically to two small items of silver tableware in the Mildenhall Treasure, decorated with maenads accompanied by the god Pan, engraved on their undersides with the Greek name Eutherios in the genitive (Painter 1977). Yet, the Mildenhall Treasure is dated to the 4th century A.D., like other well known plates featuring polytheist subjects, including the patera (libation bowl) from Parabiago, which might even be traced back to the early 5th century A.D. On our specimen, the details of the clothing, as well as those of the tree and of the temple, are closely related to those in the scene representing Apollo entering the sanctuary of Delos, seen on a lanx (rectangular plate) discovered at Corbridge and also dated to the 4th century A.D. (Brendel 1941; Nicholson 1995).

In conclusion, our dish is no doubt a masterpiece of provincial crafts, probably manufactured in the eastern part of the Empire. As for the dating, it can be linked to a group of similar productions of the 4th century A.D. The hammered inscription is a later addition, provided by a certain Nonnos when he acquired the precious dish. The inscription leads us to two hypotheses: either Nonnos offered this masterpiece to a sanctuary dedicated to Minerva, or he had the dish engraved after having offered a sacrifice to the goddess, like the main figure in the composition.

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Condition Complete and in excellent condition; slight deformations at the edges.

Unpolished outer surface showing the relief in negative.

Provenance Ex-Behrens Collection (1847-1947), Bremen; ex-German private collection; acquired in 1994.

Published Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 9 December 2010, Lot 196.

Bibliography BRENDEL O., The Corbridge Lanx, in The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 31, 1941, pp. 100-127.

NICHOLSON O., The Corbridge Lanx and the Emperor Julian, Britannia Vol. 26, 1995, pp. 312-315.

PAINTER K.S., The Mildenhall Treasure. Vol. 1, London, 1977.

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58 Menorah Jewish, 4th century A.D. Bronze H: 45.5 cm

Central part of a menorah, the Jewish seven-branched lampstand, made of bronze and decorated with many spirals in relief between the main branches. The base and the plate intended to hold the oil lamps are now lost.

Even fragmentary examples of such ancient Jewish candelabra that have survived up to modern times are extremely rare. According to the most specialized study recently published (Hachlili 2001), there are only some ten attested marble or bronze specimens, discovered mostly in Israel and in Asia Minor.

Among these, three examples found in the synagogue of Sardis, the first made of marble (Hachlili 2001, D 2.1, p. 356) and the two others made of bronze (Waldbaum 1983, nos. 610-611, p. 103), are probably the closest parallels for our example, stylistically speaking. The rich ornamentation of the fragmentary marble menorah, with its rich incised volutes, particularly recalls the spirals of our example, so that we might even consider it as one of the prototypes to have inspired the craftsman who manufactured the present piece. The two bronze lampstands, whose general rendering is rather similar, would suggest that our example might also originate in Asia Minor, within the same chronological framework, namely the 4th century A.D. It is also worth noting a pair of complete bronze examples from the Holy Land, dated between the 4th and the 7th century, which are among the most beautiful pieces in the Steinhardt Collection. The rendering is simpler, however, and the series of lamps crowning the first example would suggest an earlier dating, perhaps the 1st or 2nd century A.D.

Condition Only the central, more decorative part and a fragment of a ring to be fixed to the bottom of the shaft are still preserved. Surface partially covered with a pale green patina.

Provenance Ex-Professor Adolphe Goumaz Collection, Switzerland, collected in the 1960s.

Bibliography HACHLILI R., The menorah, the ancient seven-armed candelabrum: origin, form, and significance, Leiden, 2001.

WALDBAUM J.C., Metalwork from Sardis: The Finds through 1974, Cambridge, 1983.

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59 Pendant with a menorah, a kantharos and a shofar Near Eastern, 4th - 5th century A.D. Glass and gold D: 3.3 cm (Enlarged)

“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.

And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it. (…)

You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold.”

Exodus, 25, 31-32 and 37-38 (Old Testament, English Standard Version)

This elegant gold pendant, provided with a large suspension ring and an oval frame adorned with dots in relief, is set with an orange and white glass paste medallion.

On a dark orange background, a lighted menorah, the Jewish seven-branched lampstand, is rendered in relief.

The candelabrum is composed of a tripod pedestal rendered in red and of seven fluted branches rendered in white, each surmounted by a small burning lamp, whose container and flame are rendered in red.

On the left is the shofar, or ram’s horn used as a trumpet, into which a religious official blows both in the streets, to announce the start of the Sabbath and of major holidays, and in the synagogue, to emphasize the crucial moments of the liturgy. On the right is a kantharos, or belly vessel provided with two handles.

Related to the menorah, this latter motif seems to appear only in the iconography of the Diaspora, mainly in funerary contexts, but also adorning luxury items, such as the gilded glass plate discovered in Rome and now in the Israel Museum (inv. 66.36.15; Hachlili 2001, D 104, p.

428, pl. 62). According to the most recent studies, this

symbol may have been associated with Sukkot, or Feast of the Tabernacles (Hachlili 2001, p. 220).

Given its characteristics, this pendant is almost certainly a Near Eastern production dated to the 4th or 5th century A.D., defined by the scholars as the peak period for small glass artifacts decorated with the Jewish patterns dear to the Diaspora.

Condition Complete, but fragments of the medallion are now lost. The back is lumpy and partially cracked.

Provenance Collection of the Aboutaam family, Geneva; acquired in the 1980s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

60 Sarcophagus panel with a menorah Roman, 3rd - 4th century A.D. Marble Dim.: 57 x 219 cm

This long marble panel was originally the principal lateral element of a sarcophagus. It is decorated with a series of curved grooves, known as strigils, converging towards a central rectangular area intended to represent the deceased. In this case, the religion rather than the name is indicated in the form of an engraved emblem: a menorah, the sacred Jewish lampstand with seven-branches, each of which holds a lit oil lamp.

particular the Sabbath announced on Friday night by six regular blasts indicating that work should stop and that the lamps should be lit. On each side of the foot is the motif of the etrog, namely the variety of lemon prescribed for the believers to celebrate the blessings of the Lord during the Sabbath and the other major Jewish holidays, especially Sukkot, or Feast of the Tabernacles (Leviticus, 23, 40).

The panel is interesting in many ways. It is worth noting that the object was manufactured by two different workshops, a common practice in the Roman world.

The realistic details, particularly the rendering of the lamps and of the branches of the candelabrum, recall many similar representations of the menorah in the Late Ancient art of Judea, Palestine and Syria, whether on mosaics, carved lintels or sarcophagi (Hachlili 2001, pp. 58 ff.). These analogies suggest that our sarcophagus originated in the Near East, the cradle of Judaism and the source of its largest diaspora.

The first workshop, no doubt located in the immediate vicinity of one of the most prestigious quarries of fine marble (in Italy or Greece), made and delivered the original sarcophagus, decorated with its finely worked grooves. The second workshop, probably situated close to the home of the purchasing agent, engraved the central area, highlighted with red lead minium, a personal touch corresponding to the specific request of the client.

Regarding the iconographic rendering of the central area, one should note the accuracy of the craftsman’s work. The menorah, which rests on a small tripod base, has branches composed of stacked disks representing buds of almond blossom, an explicit reference to the founding description of the sacred candelabrum (Exodus, 25, 31-40; 37, 17-24). Above, the lit oil lamps faithfully follow the prescription given by God to Moses, mentioning the imperative and exclusive use of lamps filled with the purest olive oil.

At the foot of the candelabrum, on the left, is the shofar, a ram’s horn used as a trumpet to herald the beginning and the end of the Jewish religious ceremonies, in

It is also noteworthy that, among the sarcophagi of the northern Mediterranean diaspora, the presence of menorot with similar rendering and with lamps lit is rare, appearing mostly in the catacombs of Rome (Hachlili 2001, pp. 95-96), primarily on the famous panels of the three sarcophagi from the Jewish catacomb of Vigna Randanini (Hachlili 2001, D 9.1-3, p. 425-426).

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Condition Complete, though chipped (especially on the rim); reglued fragments and small repairs.

Provenance Ex-European private collection; Christie’s, New York, January 5, 1998, Lot 296.

Exhibited “East-West: The Spiritual Roots of Europe”, November 2009-April 2010, Martin Bodmer Foundation, Cologny (Geneva).

Published CHAMAY J., Objets d’exception (Fondation Martin Bodmer), Geneva, 2010, pp. 4-5 and 35 (with bibliography).

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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61 Kernos with figural scenes Late Roman, 4th - 5th century A.D. Ceramic H: 56 cm

“There is also the cernus. This is a vessel made of earthenware, having many little cup-like figures fastened to it, in which are white poppies, wheat-ears, grains of barley, peas, pulse, vetches, and lentils. And he who carries it, like the man who carries the mystic fan, eats of these things, as Ammonius relates in the third book of his treatise on Altars and Sacrifices.�

Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, XI, 52 (Translated by C.D. Yonge)

This is a unique example of a Dionysian terracotta kernos, with hand-modeled motifs added before the firing process.

The kernos, documented since ancient times, is a large earthenware vessel intended to contain the offerings during important religious ceremonies. In Greek religion, the kernos plays a significant role in the mysteries, especially the Eleusinian Mysteries. One of the cult processions was even named kernophoria. It was described by Julius Pollux (Onomasticon, IV, 103) as including a dance in which women, lamps lighted on their heads, whirl around the kernos carriers.

Our example is a large vessel supported by a solid foot, whose base is adorned with piecrust serrations. The body of the vessel is decorated, in the middle, with an incised band of zigzags. It is surmounted by a circular channel from which pipes emerge, each provided with a hole in its upper part. This is, in fact, a large circular lamp, whose protrusions function as nozzles. On the channel are several ornamental arches intended to support a second circular structure, topped by ornaments that are now lost.

The belly of the vessel was decorated with two large snakes in relief, which served as handles, only one of

which is still preserved. These reptiles, whose heads are not represented, seem to slither on the vase and fall inside. Above, the arches surmounting the large circular channel display a varied iconographic register, featuring two main scenes.

The first scene is composed of a compact group of figures positioned under an arch, whose vault is decorated with branches and grapes. At the center, Dionysus, his head encircled by a leafy wreath, stands upright, nude except for an animal skin hanging over his shoulder and covering part of his torso. He leans on a sturdy stick with his left hand, while emptying a cup with his right hand. A young boy, also standing, embraces the god, his head turned towards him as if he was talking to him. At the feet of the two figures lies a feline. To one side sits a minotaur, his legs crossed and his arms raised.

The second scene, also unfolding under an arch, shows two panthers, their forelegs placed on a huge kantharos, from which they come to drink.

In a number of instances, the space between the arches is decorated with a seated hunchbacked figure, dressed in a toga and carrying a large spherical object behind his head.

In one instance, at the rear of the vessel, the hunchbacked figure is replaced by a bucranium (ox skull), so as to emphasize the presence, next to it, of a bald and bearded figure, seated under an arch and holding an object in his arms. This is most probably a musician playing a lyre.

This unique piece is probably a Near Eastern creation dated to the late Roman Imperial period or the early

Byzantine period. An element for the dating of our kernos is provided by the two panthers drinking from a vessel, an iconographic motif that appeared in the 1st century, but reaching its peak only as of the 3rd century A.D., and considered by many experts as a representation from the tree of life. One of the most beautiful representations of this panther motif is no doubt the one featuring on a panel of the Lod Mosaic, dated approximately to 300 A.D. (Ovadiah and Mucznik 1998).

Condition Complete and in good condition, despite some damage (handle lost, some nozzles broken and figural groups partially fragmentary or lost); chips. Burn marks on some nozzles.

Provenance Ex-Therme Collection, Geneva, 1968; ex-private collection; acquired on the Swiss art market in 1994.

Bibliography On the Lod Mosaic, see: OVADIAH A. and MUCZNIK S., Classical Heritage and Anti-Classical Trends in the Mosaic Pavement of Lydda (Lod), in Assaph: Studies in Art History, 3, 1998, pp. 1-16.

Candelabrum foot or candle support 62 in the shape of a bird Late Roman or Byzantine, 4th -7th century A.D. Bronze H: 9.8 cm (1:1)

Bronze piece in the shape of an eagle or a pigeon with folded wings, provided with a quadrangular tenon drilled on the back. The deep-set round eyes would have been inlaid. The beak has two small holes, typical of a pigeon’s beak, but it is hooked, like that of an eagle. The legs are spread apart, so as to allow a square bar to pass through.

The date and the exact purpose of this piece are difficult to determine. Bird-shaped bronze lamps and candle supports were indeed very popular in the Roman Empire, from the second half of the 2nd century A.D., as attested by a recent in-depth study (Agustoni 2005).

Our artifact is not a lamp, since it has neither nozzle nor reservoir. However, despite being deprived of its base and having a tenon that is quadrangular and not tubular in shape, it may well have been used as a candle support, like many examples from late Antiquity excavated both in North Africa and in Egypt (Garbsch 1999).

Then again, this piece might represent the most ornamental part of a candelabrum foot. It would have been attached to the base thanks to the space between the legs that would take the shaft fitting into the drilled quadrangular tenon placed on the back of the bird.

The attention to detail, the quality of the bronze and the configuration of the eyes intended to hold pupils made of a precious material would suggest that this artifact is an eastern Mediterranean production, perhaps Egyptian, to be dated between the 4th and the 7th century A.D., when the motif of the bird was at its peak both on lamps and on complex bronze artifacts designed for the elite, regardless of religion. Birds, symbols of the cults of Jupiter, Serapis, Isis and other eastern religions, were gradually assimilated into Christian worship, whether dove, peacock or eagle.

Condition In very good condition, but the eyes are now lost.

Provenance Ex-Béla Hein Collection, Paris, collected before 1931.

Bibliography AGUSTONI C., Ex pavone lux, in CHRZANOVSKI L. (ed.), Lychnological Acts: 1, Actes du 1er Congrès international d’études sur le luminaire antique, 2005, pp. 15-16, pl. 1-3.

GARBSCH J., Ein römischer Kerzenleuchter von Eining, in WAMSER L. (ed.), Dedicatio Hermann Dannheimer zum 70. Geburtstag, Eining, 1999, pp. 91-97.

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63 Lamp with a cross-shaped handle Byzantine (Egypt?), 6th -7th century A.D. Bronze H: 15.4 cm – L: 20.1 cm (1:1)

Bronze lamp with a pear-shaped body and a rounded profile. The filling hole is surmounted by a domed, hinged lid decorated with the head of a bald, bearded satyr. In the rear, the imposing reflector is soldered to a square projection. It is molded in the shape of a bulbous cross, whose arms terminate in globular ornaments. A small annular handle is soldered to the back of the cross. The lamp is supported by a flared round foot provided with a square hole to fix the shaft of the candelabrum.

Given its shape and rendering, our lamp is in line with a group of similar artifacts that were manufactured mainly in Syria and in Egypt during the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. and that were widespread in the eastern Mediterranean (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 3.150-3.159, pp. 132-134). A lamp housed in the National Museum of Damascus (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 3.156, p. 133) is in all respects identical to ours, except for the lid.

This lid, including its decoration derived from pagan iconography, is unique among lamps with a bulbous cross. It is, however, well attested in Egyptian productions dated to the same period, many examples of which are now in the Coptic Museum in Cairo (Bénazeth 2001, nos. 107, 113, 114 and 116). Among these pieces is a lid, whose shape and rendering of the head are almost identical to ours. It was discovered in the Coptic Church of Samannoud and belongs to a lamp, whose handle is now lost, of a contemporary type and with a morphology similar to our artifact (Bénazeth 2001, no. 107, p. 125). Another almost identical lid decorates a lamp of a different type and with a more exuberant form, much more ornate. This last example, now housed in the British Museum, also comes from Egypt, perhaps from the Church of Edfu, and dates to the 6th7th century A.D. (Bailey 1996, Q 3818, p. 75, pl. 86).

Condition Complete and in very good condition. Surface covered with a green patina and partially with a reddish oxidation.

Provenance Ex-Swiss collection, collected in the early 1980s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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64 Lamp representing the three Jews in the furnace Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14.4 cm (Enlarged)

“King Nebuchadnezzar ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. (…) Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ He answered and said, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Daniel, 3, 20-25 (Old Testament, English Standard Version) Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a brownish orange slip.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with alternating rosettes and circles adorned with crosses. The discus features three Hebrews seen frontally, each dressed in a long eastern tunic fastened by a belt and wearing a Phrygian cap. They stand, legs spread apart and hands tied behind their backs, in the flames of the furnace. Between the first and the second figure from the left, where the flames are highest, appears a haloed angel, wings spread and arms stretched forward, also dressed in a long tunic. Two roughly pierced filling holes encroach upon two of the figures.

The theme of the three Jews in the furnace is very popular on African lamps (Ennabli 1976, p. 44, pl. I). There are documented examples very similar to ours in shape and in decoration of the discus and of the shoulder: a lamp in the Antiquarium Comunale in Rome (Mercando 1962, no. 2 p 22, pl. V), a lamp found and housed in Hippo Regius (Bussière 2007, C 300, p 102, pl. 21), a

lamp in the National Library of France (Trost and Hellmann 1996, no. 43, pp. 78-79, pl. VII) and a lamp in the Alexandria National Museum (Graziani Abbiani 1969, no. 6, p 22 and fig. 1, p. 25).

Condition In excellent condition, grayish terracotta (heat?); chips. Burn marks on the nozzle. Image slightly worn.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

65 Lamp representing a dove with a branch in its beak Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14.4 cm (1:1)

“At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.

Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.�

Genesis, 8, 6-11 (Old Testament, English Standard Version) Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with alternating serrated wheels and dotted heart-shaped motifs. On either side of the nozzle is a dot in relief.

Occupying the entire discus, a dove with stylized wings and tail in right profile walks forward. Its neck is adorned with a necklace and its eye is highlighted with a drop in relief. The bird holds in its beak an olive branch composed of a stem bearing five leaves and four olives.

Represented with a branch in its beak, the dove is a rare motif. Only three specimens present the same decoration on the discuses, but all three have different motifs on the shoulder bands: a lamp discovered in Maktar (Bourgeois 1980, no. 25, p. 69, pl. VII), a lamp discovered in Althiburos (Ennabli 1976, nos. 597-603, p. 136, pl. XXXI) and a fragmentary lamp housed in

the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University (Herrmann and Van den Hoek 2002, no. 19, p. 31).

Condition Virtually intact; minor chips.

Provenance Ex-Japanese private collection, collected in the early 1990s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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Lamp representing the three Jews 66 before Nebuchadnezzar Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14.2 cm (Enlarged)

“Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, ‘Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’”

Daniel, 3, 13-15 (Old Testament, English Standard Version) Lamp molded in a bright orange clay and covered with a slip of the same color.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with alternating palm leaves and dotted heart-shaped motifs. On either side of the nozzle is a heart-shaped pattern arranged transversally.

The discus features three Hebrews seen frontally, each dressed in a long eastern tunic fastened by a belt and wearing a Phrygian cap. They stand, legs spread apart, appearing to recoil. In front of them stands a small bearded man without headgear, putting his hand to his belt, probably a soldier ready to unsheathe his sword.

On the left, at the foot of the column bearing the royal bust wearing a Phrygian cap, sits Nebuchadnezzar.

Dressed in a long tunic, he is seated in profile on a sella curulis, a Roman curule seat with curved legs forming a wide X and decorated with ivory, upon which only senior magistrates and promagistrates holding imperium (overall power to command) were entitled to sit. His elbows placed on his knees, he stretches out his left fore-

arm towards the column, indicating his bust with his index. On this lamp, the second filling hole is pierced at the location of the king’s head, normally clearly visible and identical to his bust on the column.

The theme of the three Jews before Nebuchadnezzar is very popular on African lamps. There are documented examples very similar to ours in shape and in decoration of the discus and of the shoulder: a lamp in the British Museum, acquired in El Djem (Bailey 1988, Q 1795, pp. 197, pl. 23), a lamp housed in the Algiers Museum of Antiquities (Bussière 2007, C 307, p. 103, pl. 22), a lamp now in the Carthage National Museum (Ennabli 1976, no. 27, p 45, pl. I), a fragmentary lamp in the Louvre, discovered at Ksar Baghai in the vicinity of Timgad (Lyon-Caen and Hoff 1986, no. 130, pp. 116-117); a fragmentary lamp housed in the National Museum of Rome (Barbera and Petriaggi 1993, no. 267, p 308 and no. 502, pp. 392, pl. 30) and two lamps in private collections (Bussière 2012, no. 291, pp. 244-245; Dejean 2012, M 058, p. 100, pl. 136).

Condition In good condition, but neck of the nozzle partially repaired; ancient central cracks, wear.

Provenance Ex-Japanese private collection, collected in the early 1990s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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67 Lamp with the image of Christ Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th-first half of the 6th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14 cm (Enlarged)

“You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Psalms, 91, 13-16 (Old Testament, English Standard Version) Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with circles that encompass alternating crosses and wheels. On the discus, Christ is represented frontally, haloed and dressed in a long tunic. He holds his belt with his left hand, while carrying with his extended right hand a long scepter surmounted by a cross. With this scepter, he strikes the venomous snake, whose body coils around his legs and the shaft, while its head with the protruding tongue is seen beneath his feet. On the right appears the serpent, or basilisk, rendered in the form of a seahorse.

Near the channel of the nozzle, a young lion is represented in left profile, pawing with its right foreleg. On the upper discus, two flying angels, with long hair and clad in tunics, stretch out their hands towards the head of Christ the Lord.

The theme of Christ the Lord victorious over the evil forces of darkness is rather rare on African lamps. It might have been created by a small group of workshops using similar molds, responsible for such pieces as one auctioned in Zurich (Franchi 1992, fig. 39, pl. XC ; F. Sternberg, L.A. Wolfe, Objects with Semitic Inscriptions, Jewish, early Christian and Byzantine Antiquities, F. Sternberg Auktion XXIII, 20 November 1989, Zurich 1989,

no. 124). This would explain the fact that most of the documented examples are very similar to ours in shape and in decoration of the discus and of the shoulder: three lamps from Carthage (Ennabli 1976, nos. 59-61, pp. 49-50, pl. II), a lamp from Hippo Regius (Bussière 2007, C 340, p. 105, pl. 23), a lamp discovered in Timgad and now housed in the Louvre (Lyon-Caen and Hoff 1986, no. 48, pp. 102), a lamp discovered on the Palatine Hill and now housed in the National Museum of Rome (Barbera and Petriaggi 1993, no. 506, p. 393, pl. 31 and no. 133, p 175), two lamps in the Schloessinger Collection in Jerusalem (Rosenthal and Sivan 1978, nos. 293294, p. 71) and three lamps in private collections (Herrmann and Van den Hoek 2002, no. 35, p. 47; Dejean 2012, L 657 and L 772, p. 100, pl. 135 = Gorny & Mosch, Cat. 158, n0. 508 and Cat. 163, no. 518).

Condition Complete and in very good condition; surface partially dotted, grayish traces on the handle. Details of the relief partially erased.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

68 Lamp representing the sacrifice of Isaac Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14.5 cm (Enlarged)

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ (...) When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”

Genesis, 22, 2-13 (Old Testament, English Standard Version)

The theme of the sacrifice of Isaac is represented in various versions on African lamps (Sandoz 2000).

Two molds producing lamps identical to ours are documented, the first one, complete, now in the Archaeological Museum of Milan (Franchi 1992, no. 3, pp. 105-106, pl. LXXX) and the second one, fragmentary, housed in a private collection (Dejean 2012, L 671, p. 119, pl. 176 = Gorny & Mosch, Cat. 158, no. 520). Two similar lamps are also attested: a lamp in the Carthage National Museum (Ennabli 1976, no. 14, p. 43, pl. I) and another example found and housed in Hippo Regius (Bussière 2007, C 293-294, p. 102, pl. 21).

Condition In very good condition; minor cracks. Burn marks on the nozzle.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, collected in the 1970s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with circles that encompass alternating wheels and lozenges. On either side of the nozzle is a small leaf-shaped motif. Abraham is at the center of the composition, represented frontally and dressed in a short tunic fastened by a belt, legs spread apart and ready to act. He brandishes a long knife in his right hand, while seizing his son Isaac by the hair with his left hand. Isaac kneels before him, hands tied behind his back, beneath a decor composed of strips in relief representing bundles of wood for the sacrificial altar. On the left, the hand of the angel of the Lord emerges from a stylized cloud to make the ram appear, its head turned towards Abraham.

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69 Lamp representing a running lion Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th - first half of the 6th century A.D. Ceramic L: 13.7 cm (1:1)

“For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’ Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”

Numbers, 23, 23-24 (Old Testament, English Standard Version)

and Sgreva 1997, no. 659, pp. 372, 377, 438), two lamps housed in the National Library of France (Trost and Hellmann 1996, nos. 64-65, pp. 87-88, pl. VIII-IX, especially no. 64 with the palmettes alternating with disks) and a fragmentary lamp now in the National Museum of Rome (Barbera and Petriaggi 1993, no. B 304, p. 380).

Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

In good condition; chips; handle summarily repaired.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with alternating palmettes and dotted heart-shaped motifs. On either side of the nozzle is a palmette arranged transversally.

Ex-Japanese private collection, collected in the early 1990s.

Condition

Provenance

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

Occupying the entire discus, a lion in right profile leaps forward, its hind legs still touching the ground and its forelegs raised and outstretched, its eye keen and its mouth open, revealing its powerful fangs. Its characteristic dense mane is ruffled by the wind and its tail flies behind it. The ribcage of the animal is rendered by two curved lines in relief, while the lower chest is represented by a quarter-circle formed by a hatched band in relief. The muscles of the chest are rendered by imprinted lines, while the fur of the paws and of the tail is depicted by parallel series of lines in relief.

The running lion, with its tail outstretched, is a rare motif. Only one specimen presents the same discus and the same decoration on the shoulder, a lamp found at El Jem (Ennabli 1976, no. 290, p 87, pl. XIV). Among other examples, the closest parallels are a lamp in Sabratha (Joly 1974, no. 1167, pp. 191, pl. XLVIII), a lamp in the British Museum, discovered in Carthage (Bailey 1988, Q 1811, p. 199, pl. 25), a lamp in Viuz-Faverges, excavated in Carthage (Chrzanovski 2000, no. 19, p 31, pl. 5), a lamp in the Archaeological Museum of Verona (Larese

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70 Lamp representing a male bust (“bust of Saint Peter”) Late Roman (Tunisian production), second half of the 5th - first half of the 6th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14.2 cm

“And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon BarJonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’”

Matthew, 16, 17-19 Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

Flat-band shoulder decorated with triangular chevrons. On either side of the nozzle is a drop-shaped motif arranged vertically.

disk on the channel beneath the bust: a lamp in the Carthage National Museum (Ennabli 1976, no. 97, p.

56, pl. IV), a lamp in the Algiers Museum of Antiquities (Bussière 2007, C 368, p. 106, pl. 24), a lamp from Lambaesis now in a museum in Leiden (Brants 1913, no. 1155, p. 66, pl. VIII) and a lamp in a French private collection (Dejean 2012, M 091, p. 99, pl. 134, coll. Sempéré).

Condition In excellent condition, despite minor chips. Burn marks on the nozzle.

Bright paint in places.

Provenance Ex-Japanese private collection, collected in the early 1990s.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

On the discus is the very accurately rendered bust of a bearded man turned three-quarters towards the viewer. The facial features are clearly marked, with the almond-shaped eyes emphasized by the eyebrows meeting above a regular nose and with a clearly indicated mouth. The beard is rendered by finely marked reliefs on the cheeks and the chin, while the hair, combed backwards, is indicated by parallel ridges revealing the right ear. The figure wears a simple pleated tunic surmounted by a toga covering his left shoulder and that he holds with his right hand at chest level, revealing his index, middle and ring fingers.

The “bust of Saint Peter” is rather rare on African lamps, but it is well documented on the sigillated ceramics of the Tunisian workshops. It might have been created by a small group of workshops, which would explain the fact that most of the attested examples are very similar to ours in shape and in decoration of the discus and of the shoulder, although none of them bears a stamped

71 Lamp representing a fish Late Roman (Tunisia), second half of the 5th - first half of the 6th century A.D. Ceramic L: 14.3 cm (Enlarged)

“And the verses are twenty-seven, which is the cube of three.

For three times three are nine; and nine itself, if tripled, so as to rise from the superficial square to the cube, comes to twenty-seven. But if you join the initial letters of these five Greek words, ‘Ιησοῦς Χριστος Θεοῦ υἰὸς σωτήρ’, which means ‘Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour’, they will make the word ‘ἰχδὺς’, that is, ‘fish’, in which word Christ is mystically understood, because He was able to live, that is, to exist, without sin in the abyss of this mortality as in the depth of waters.”

Saint Augustine, De civitate dei, XVIII, 23 (Translated by Marcus Dods)

very similar to ours for the rendering of the fish and the motifs on the shoulder, although they are not in the same order, and is housed in a private collection (Dejean 2012, L 610, p. 94, pl. 123 = Gorny & Mosch, Cat. 143, no. 673). Lamps decorated with a fish similar to that on our example, but with a slightly different tail and mouth, were discovered at Dougga (Ennabli 1976, no. 712, pl. XXXVII) and Timgad (Bussière 2007, C 708, p. 127, pl. 52).

Condition In very good condition. Burn marks on the nozzle. Bright paint in places.

Lamp molded in a pale orange clay and covered with a bright orange slip.

Provenance

Flat-band shoulder decorated with alternating palm leaves and dotted heart-shaped motifs. On either side of the nozzle is a heart-shaped pattern arranged transversally.

Bibliography

A fish in right profile occupies the entire discus. Its scales are rendered in relief, by dotted lines, its gills by two half-circles, its mouth by a line and a hatched area, while its eye is composed of a disk marked with a central dot. Its tail, its lateral fins and its dorsal fin are highlighted by parallel lines.

The symbol of the fish, widespread on African lamps, owes its popularity among the Christian populations to the fact that ΙΧΘΥΣ, namely ἰχθύς, the Greek word for fish, is used as an acronym of the standard Greek formulation “Ιησουσ Χριστοσ, Θεου Υιοσ, Σωτηρ”, as explained by Saint Augustine.

There are many African lamps adorned with a fish, in various iconographic renderings. One single lamp is

Ex-Japanese private collection, collected in the early 1990s.

See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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72 Lamp with a menorah Roman (Orontes Valley production), second half of the 5th - middle of the 6th century A.D. Ceramic L: 11.5 cm (Enlarged)

“Only a cup filled with olive oil with a simple single wick is called Ner, ‘lamp’. Wax or any related grease gathered around a wick is not a Ner, a flame, but a torch.”

The Maharal of Prague, Ner Mitzvah Lamp molded in an orange beige clay and covered with a beige slip.

Full pear-shaped body. A high rim in relief borders both the discus and the nozzle. Around the large filling hole, there is a stellar decoration in relief composed of triangles. On the channel of the nozzle, there are three dotted circles in relief between the filling hole and the wick hole. The central circle is surrounded by dots in relief. At the rear, a molded broad circular handle bears the representation of a tripod menorah with seven burning lamps, the flames rendered by small dots in relief above each branch of the sacred candelabrum.

This lamp has no close parallel and is a very rare example demonstrating the continuity of the Jewish community in the Orontes Valley, well after the conversion of the Apamea synagogue into a Christian church in 420 A.D., following the looting and expropriation of the eastern Hebrew religious sites initiated by Bishop Cyril of Alexandria from 415 A.D. onward. Thanks to the results of the Belgian excavations at Apamea, the early production of this type of lamp can be dated to the second half of the 5th century A.D., peaking during the first quarter of the 6th century and probably not extending beyond the late 6th century (Lorand 2005).

These lamps were only produced in any quantity in a well defined area, the Orontes Valley. Their presence is well attested in Hama, Homs, Apamea and their immediate surroundings, while their presence at other Syrian sites is sporadic or inexistent (PapanicolaouChristensen 1986; Ploug 1986).

Condition In good condition, despite minor chips and breaks. Burn marks on the nozzle.

Provenance Ex-German private collection; acquired on the German art market in 2010.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

73 Pendant with a menorah Byzantine, late 5th - 6th century A.D. Amber-colored glass D: 2.8 cm (Enlarged)

Small round glass pendant provided with a ring and decorated with an embossed menorah, the Jewish seven-branched lampstand, supported by a horizontal foot.

Our artifact is one of a large number of glass pendants produced in the Holy Land and intended both for the natives and for the pilgrims. The vast majority of these pendants were found on site, but only a few come from precise archeological contexts. The examples discovered at Jalame, Tzippori and Tarshiha suggest a date ranging from the early 5th to the 6th century A.D. for this class of medallions (Hachlili 2001, pp. 108-109, and pp. 342-345 for an inventory of the identified pieces).

There are no identical specimens. Nearly all documented glass medallions are decorated with a menorah flanked by at least two ritual objects, most often the lulav and the shofar, sometimes the etrog. However, among the pendants decorated with just a simple menorah, an example now housed in the Israel Museum (inv. 77.40.1017) features a candelabrum very similar to ours (Hachlili 2001, IS 16.16, p. 344, pl. II.73).

Condition Complete and in excellent condition. Surface almost entirely covered with a beautiful iridescent patina.

Provenance Ex-private collection, Lausanne; acquired from Ms GarabĂŠdian, Geneva, in 1970; acquired in 2001.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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74 Flask with Jewish and Christian symbols Byzantine, late 6th -7th century A.D. Amber glass H: 8.9 cm (1:1)

Small hexagonal flask with a flat base, a wide mouth and a rounded rim. Each of the six sides of the flask is decorated with a symbol: an ornament in the form of a cross adorned with heart-shaped patterns at the end of each arm, a stylized palm tree, a shrine represented by two columns with stylized capitals supporting an arch, twice the motif of concentric lozenges and, finally, a menorah on a tripod base with its seven lamps lit.

This artifact is one of a large number of glass vessels produced in Israel and in Syria and intended for the pilgrims. In his exhaustive study, Barag identified fifty-five hexagonal and four octagonal examples and classified them in two main forms, the bottles and the flasks (our specimen would be classified in type B5). Although almost all the vessels feature the same iconographic elements as the ones visible here, it seems that the flasks would have been favored by the Jewish clientele, while the bottles would have attracted mainly Christian clients (Hachlili 2001, pp. 105-108 and 347-353).

The closest parallels for our piece are an almost identical artifact housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated between 578 and 636 A.D. (inv. 1972.118.180; Evans and Ratliff 2012, p. 110), and three flasks in the Toledo Museum of Art (Stern 1995, nos. 171-173, pp. 249 and 338-341).

Condition Virtually intact.

Provenance Ex-Michael and Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection, New York; probably ex-Zagayski Collection; ex-Davidowitz Collection.

Exhibited Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, September 1997-November 2001.

“The Collector’s Room: Selections from the Michael and Judy Steinhardt Collection”, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, 1993, no. 103.

Published GROSSMAN C., The Collector’s Room: Selections from the Michael and Judy Steinhardt Collection, 1993, p. 34, no. 103.

Bibliography BARAG D., Glass Pilgrim Vessels from Jerusalem, in Journal of Glass Studies, XII, 1970, pp. 35-63.

EVANS H.C. and RATLIFF B. (eds.), Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition, New York, 2012.

STERN E.M., Roman Mold-Blown Glass: the First through Sixth Centuries: Toledo Museum of Art, Rome, 1995.

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75 Christian lamp on a candelabrum Near Eastern, 5th -7th century A.D. Bronze H: 36.5 cm

Bronze lamp with a pear-shaped body and a rounded profile. The filling hole is surmounted by a hinged convex lid and provided with a profiled knob. At the back, the imposing handle is beautifully modeled in foliated scrolls decorated with buds and bearing in the center a cross placed on a disk. The lamp rests on a small round flared base provided with a hole to fix the shaft of the candelabrum. This candelabrum is composed of a baluster-shaped stem with a large central bulge surmounted by an upper-rimmed and lower-rimmed plate. The triangular pedestal is adorned with three oval ornaments and supported by three stylized feline paws.

This lamp, given its shape and its rendering, can be classified in a large group, manufactured mainly in Syria and in Egypt, and very popular in the eastern Mediterranean basin. It seems that the specific shape of the candelabrum and especially the decoration of the handle surmounted by the cross were extremely popular among bronze Byzantine lamps. There are seventeen lamps almost identical to ours, excavated in Crete, in Egypt, in Turkey and even in Algeria (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 3.228 to 3.344, pp. 150-153).

In the diverse range of examples related to our lamp, whose rendering is nevertheless more schematic than ours, one should mention a lamp housed in the National Museum of Damascus (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 3.191, p. 141) and an Egyptian lamp housed in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3819, p. 75, pl. 86). For more similar pieces, however, but with a richer rendering, one should note two lamps on candelabra, one housed in the Malcove Collection at the University of Toronto (Campbell 1985, no. 43, p. 49) and another now in Berlin (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 3.193 and CD 7.053, p. 265). As for the candelabrum, it belongs to a very common type, attested mainly in Syria, but also

in Egypt (Xanthopoulou 2010, CD 7.052 to CD 7.067, pp. 265-269).

Condition Complete and in very good condition. Assembled from several elements.

Reddish surface, grainy green patina.

Provenance Ex-LĂŠvy Collection, Neuchatel, late 1970s; ex-private collection; acquired in 2000.

Published PRICE J., Masterpieces of Ancient Jewelry, Philadelphia-London, 2008, p. 100.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

76 Christian lamp on a candelabrum Near Eastern, 5th -7th century A.D. Bronze H: 34 cm

Bronze lamp with a pear-shaped body and a rounded profile. The filling hole is surmounted by a hinged convex lid and provided with a profiled knob. At the back, the imposing handle is modeled in foliated scrolls and bears in its center a cross placed on a disk emerging from a flower. The lamp rests on a small round flared base provided with a hole to fix the shaft of the candelabrum. This candelabrum has a faceted stem adorned with horizontal markings and a small bulge, surmounted by a simple thin-rimmed plate. The triangular pedestal is adorned with three round ornaments and supported by three stylized feline paws.

Our example is characterized by an incised decoration on the shoulder, composed of foliage motifs and of vine branches with leaves and grapes, a real innovation by the craftsman, for which no close parallel is yet documented among this specific class of Christian lamps.

This type of decoration is, however, very common on Syro-Palestinian terracotta lamps of the ByzantineIslamic transition period.

Given its shape and its rendering, our lamp is a variant of the large group already mentioned in the example described previously. A related piece was found in Sicily and is now in Palermo (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 3.206, p. 145). Nevertheless, unlike our example, the body has no incised decorations. As for the candelabrum, it belongs to a very rare type, attested mainly in Syria and in Egypt, like a specimen housed in the British Museum (Xanthopoulou 2010, CD 7.031, p. 261; Bailey 1996, Q 3923, p. 105 and pl. 135).

Condition Complete and in very good condition. Assembled from several elements.

Surface largely covered with a grainy green patina.

Provenance Ex-LĂŠvy Collection, Neuchatel, late 1970s; ex-private collection; acquired in 2000.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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77 Lamp representing a peacock on a candelabrum Near Eastern, 6th -7th century A.D. Bronze H: 38 cm

Bronze lamp in the shape of a bird. The filling hole is surmounted by a hinged convex lid. At the back, the round tail serves as a nozzle for the wick. The bird, most probably a peacock, is rendered in a rather basic way.

Although the legs, the crest and the wings are molded and clearly marked, only the eyes are realistically incised. The unfeathered wings are simply adorned with a double line that emphasizes their edges. The lamp rests on a small round base provided with a hole to fix the shaft of the candelabrum. This candelabrum is composed of a baluster-shaped stem decorated with horizontal ridges, surmounted by a thin-rimmed plate.

The triangular pedestal is supported by three stylized feline paws.

Given its shape and its rendering, our lamp can be closely related to an example, whose provenance is still unknown, now housed in the Louvre (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 15.070, p. 222), which mainly differs in the rings and in the double chain allowing the piece to be suspended. As for the candelabrum, it belongs to a very common type attested especially in Syria and in Lebanon, but also in Egypt. Its closest parallel, a Near Eastern production, was discovered in Cyprus (Xanthopoulou 2010, CD 7.068, pp. 268-269).

Condition Complete, but a knob from the triangular pedestal adorning the base is now lost. Assembled from several elements. Dark-colored surface, partially covered with concretions.

Provenance Acquired from Toufic Arakji, Hamburg and London, November 8, 1994.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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78 Suspension lamp holder with an inscription Byzantine, 7th - 8th century A.D. Silver openwork D: 20 cm

“From pendent chains the lamps of crystal blaze; By fragrant oil sustained the clear flame glows With strength undimmed, and through the darkness throws High o’er the fretted roof a golden haze.”

Prudentius, Cathemerinon, V, 141-144 (Translated by R. Martin Pope)

Hemispherical lamp holder decorated in openwork, manufactured from a sheet of silver and intended to contain a glass lamp, now lost. Three suspension chains hook into three holes pierced on the rim of the bowl. These chains are also made of silver and are composed of rings that give way, in the middle section, to flat elongated stalks, each characterized by round ends and a lozenge-shaped central part. At the top, the chains gather, maintained together on the lower ring of a short stem surmounted by a large hook.

The bowl is decorated with six centrifugal registers radiating from the circular base adorned with a sixarmed cross pattée (one of the arms is missing). These registers, separated by double borders, are decorated with three different motifs, each being repeated on two opposite registers: fish scales, regular netting and interlacing four-petaled rosettes. These registers, as well as the base, are in accurate openwork.

Above these rich decorations and just below the horizontal flat rim that tops the shoulder, there is a wide band left undecorated, with a dedicatory inscription in Greek letters: “Your servant, John, offered this to the Saint as a gesture of thanks.” The shaping of the letters is typical of the Syrian inscriptions of the 8th century A.D. This type of lamp is rare, both in light of the precious metal, silver, that only the richest churches and worshipers could afford, and in light of the particular

shape. Such objects are mentioned not only in the Byzantine typika (inventories of the goods and liturgical obligations of the sanctuaries), but also in the western Liber Pontificalis (II, 17) as canistros argenteos interrasiles. This is the first explicit mention including the material and the workmanship, even creating the Latin word interrasile to mean “openwork”.

Although several examples of suspended silver lamps in openwork have survived up to modern times, most of them are also provided with a high circular foot, so as to be placed on the altar. Our suspension lamp holder therefore belongs to the limited series of lamps without a foot and, as such, has a close parallel in the lamp discovered in the ruins of the monastery adjacent to the Church of San Martino ai Monti in Rome (Boyd 1988, p. 195, pl. VII 2; Lipinsky 1967). Its shape, the organization of the decorative registers and the undecorated band for the dedication are similar in all respects to our example. It bears, however, a Latin inscription, rendered in dotted letters: To Saint Sylvester, his servant fulfilled her vow.

Scholars’ opinions on the date of the invention of such lamps largely differ. According to some of them, it dates back to the 5th century A.D., at least concerning the lamp found in Rome. In the view of others, such lamps appeared only in the 10th century A.D., a hypothesis that seems increasingly challenged.

Our example is likely dated between the 6th and the 8th century A.D., somewhere between the date traditionally assigned to the so-called Sion Treasure and that attributed to the inscription on our lamp.

In fact, the Sion Treasure (uncovered in Kumluca, Anatolia) revealed twenty-four openwork lamps and

other polycandela. According to many experts, it marks, along with the Lampsacus Treasure (Mango 2003) and the silver liturgical objects from Attarouthi (Frazer 1988), the early acme in the production of Byzantine silver lamps (Boyd and Mango 1992), so popular that they were produced until the 10th-11th century A.D. Our lamp also offers the opportunity to reopen the debate on the dating of the specimen discovered in Rome, which could well be a Syrian import, whose clumsy inscription would have been added only after its arrival in the Eternal City.

Condition Complete and in excellent condition, but one of the six arms of the cross pattĂŠe is now lost; minor damage and slightly deformed.

Provenance Ex-German private collection, Frankfurt, collected in 1974.

Exhibited Phoenix Ancient Art SA, Moscow Fine Arts Fair , September 2005, cat. expo. no 41.

Bibliography BOYD S.A., A Bishop’s Gift: Openwork Lamps from the Sion Treasure, in BARATTE F. (ed.), Argenterie romaine et byzantine, Paris, 1988.

BOYD S.A. and MANGO M.M. (eds), Ecclesiastical Silver Plate in SixthCentury Byzantium, Dumbarton Oaks, 1992.

FRAZER M., Silver Liturgical Objects from Attarouthi in Syria, in Byzantine Studies Conference, Abstracts of Papers, 14, 1988, pp. 13-14.

LIPINSKY A., La lampada votiva del IV secolo nella chiesa dei Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti, in Urbe, 30, 1967, pp. 4-9.

MANGO M.M., Three Illuminating Objects in the Lampsacus Treasure, in ENTWISTLE C., Through a Glass Brightly: Studies in Byzantine and Medieval Art and Archaeology Presented to David Buckton, Oxford, 2003, pp. 64-75.

79 Lamp representing a trifid egret Islamic (Syria or Egypt), 7th - 8th century A.D. Bronze H: 16 cm (1:1)

Bronze lamp in the shape of a bird, originally placed on a candelabrum, as indicated by the square hole pierced in the circular base, into which the shaft of the support would have been inserted. At the back, the pierced round tail serves as a nozzle for the wick. The oil was poured into the body of the bird through the filling hole located between the wings and covered by a removable lid. Inside, a small conical projection prevented the concentration of residues in the center of the lamp and also served to stabilize the wick.

Scholars date these egret lamps between the 6th and the 7th century A.D. and consider them as a typical Egyptian transitional production between the Byzantine period and the first century of the Islamic expansion. The egret motif seems to have been so popular, at least until the 8th century A.D., that several examples were the object of long-distance export, such as our lamp, probably of Syrian origin, and also an egret lamp discovered in Andalusia (Zozaya 1987, pl. Ic).

While the rendering of the artifact is quite simple, there are several delicate touches. The wing feathers, the eyes and the ear tufts are accurately incised, as well as the dotted decorative circles that adorn the crest. The particular shape of this crest enables us to identify the bird species, most likely a trifid egret. On the tail of the bird, an incised Arabic inscription reads “Abdallah’s work”.

Complete and in very good condition, but the candelabrum is now lost.

Dark-colored surface, minor concretions (especially under the base).

Our example belongs to the large group of lamps generically known as “peacock lamps” (Ross 1960), which currently includes more than eighty specimens, mostly Egyptian, but also Syrian, intended in the main to be suspended (Xanthopoulou 2010, pp. 205-224). Among the birds created to be placed on candelabra, there is a predilection for trifid egrets, twelve examples of which have survived up to modern times (Xanthopoulou 2010, LA 15.044 to 15.055; Bénazeth 2001, no. 148, p 168). An artifact almost identical to ours is now housed in the Malcove Collection at the University of Toronto (Campbell 1985, no. 47, p. 52). Two other lamps from Egypt can also be related to ours, one in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Ross 1962, no. 41, pp. 39-40, pl.

XXVIII) and another housed in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3605, p. 21, pl. 22).

Condition

Provenance Ex-French collection, collected before 1980; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Agora Auction (Me Pierre-Marie Rogeon), March 13, 2006, Lot 195 (ill. p. 31).

Bibliography CAMPBELL S.D., The Malcove Collection, Toronto-Buffalo, 1985.

ROSS M.C., Byzantine Bronze Peacock Lamps, in Archaeology, Vol. XIII, 1960, pp. 134-136.

ROSS M.C., Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Vol. I., Washington D.C., 1962.

ZOZAYA J., Las influencias visigoticas en Al-Andalus (I), in Corso di Cultura sull’Arte Ravennate e Bizantina, XXXIV (1987), pp. 395-403.

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80 Spherical openwork censer Islamic (Spain), 12th century A.D. Bronze H: 14.5 cm (1:1)

This bronze censer, or incense burner, is composed of two parts that were molded separately. First, a circular base in relief supports a lower hemisphere provided, on the outside, with three rings for the fixing of the rivets intended to attach it to the upper part. This upper part, also hemispherical and provided with rings for the rivets, is decorated with geometric patterns pierced in openwork and topped by what appears to be the summit of a minaret, with its circular gallery and its conical roof surmounted by a feature now damaged, perhaps a crescent moon. On the side, elements of the chain that allowed the piece to be suspended are still visible.

Given the oxidation, they are preserved in the form of a highly contorted mass.

Like the masterpiece in the Almoravid Alhambra, it is likely an object commissioned by Muslim rulers and manufactured by Christian artisans located in Andalusia, who were inspired by incense burners suspended in the Late Byzantine churches, in which such liturgical objects were commonplace.

The shape of this censer is very rare. In fact, most Muslim utensils of this type, attested mainly in the Near and Middle East, were designed to be placed on a support.

They usually have three or four feet in the form of feline paws and a long shaft for their carrying. Among these, an Iranian example dated to the 12th century A.D., now housed in Berlin, can be related to our censer, especially as regards the rivet rings and the pierced patterns, on the handle in this case (Kühnel 1920, fig.

93; Aga-Oglu 1945, fig. 4).

AGA-OGLU M., About a Type of Islamic Incense Burner, in The Art Bulletin, vol. 27, no. 1 (March 1945), pp. 28-45.

FERNANDEZ PUERTAS A., Incensario de época almorávide, in Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos, no. 25, 1976, pp. 115-122.

KÜHNEL E., Islamische Kunstabteilung: Islamisches Rauchergerät, in Berliner Museen, 41:6, Aug. - Sep. 1920), pp. 4-8.

ZOZAYA J. and VON GLADISS A., Weihrauchgefäss, in VON GLADISS A. and SCHEFFOLD M. (eds.), Schätze der Alhambra: Islamische Kunst aus Andalusien, Berlin, 1995, p. 166.

It is, however, in Spanish Muslim art that our artifact has its closest parallel, namely the famous Almoravid bronze censer housed in the Museum of the Alhambra in Granada (inv. 3805; Fernández Puertas 1976; Zozaya and Von Gladiss 1995), similar in shape and differing only in the upper part topped with a bird on a ball. It is also worth noting the overall quality of the piece, as well as the delicate incisions, superior to our example.

Study of the Granada specimen, confidently dated to the first quarter of the 12th century A.D., allows us to understand the rather unusual nature of our example.

Condition Complete, but slightly deformed in the middle, probably because of an impact. Traces of the iron suspension chain.

Provenance Ex-Swiss private collection, Lugano; acquired in 2000.

Bibliography

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81 Openwork censer representing a feline Islamic (Khorasan, Eastern Persia), 11th century A.D. Bronze H: 27 cm – L: 27 cm

This finely pierced bronze censer, or incense burner, is a beautiful example of the highly stylized animal statuary typical of Persian art. The piece was cast by the lost wax process and is composed of two distinct elements made separately, the body and the head. It opens at the base of the neck, where the head is attached by a hinge on the animal’s chest. This opening would have allowed the perfumed incense to be placed inside the entirely hollow body.

The censer represents a feline, a lion or more probably a desert lynx, or caracal, in view of the rendering of the ears. This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that this animal, called siyah gush in Persian, when captured young and tamed (A’lam 1988), was a favorite hunting companion of the Seljuq princes (Khalili 2004, p. 216).

The head is beautifully modeled. The almond-shaped eyes are pierced, the ears carved in the round, while the nose, the mouth and the four fangs are in simple relief. The eyelashes and the whiskers, also in relief, are finely incised.

The top of the head and also each side of the mouth are decorated with a pierced heart-shaped motif. Below each ear, an engraved circle encloses a lattice pattern in openwork. The upper body of the animal, from the neck to the mid-thighs, is pierced with openwork in the shape of floral motifs, which allowed the perfumed smoke to escape and spread. The legs are also highly stylized, rendered in the round, with only gentle bulges in relief indicating the articulations. The tail, often seen on the closest parallels, is now lost.

Our feline shows all the distinctive features of Persian art. It is obviously inspired by calligraphy and arabesques, in which stylized motifs are used copi-

ously, as if to avert a sort of horror vacui, or fear of empty space.

The stylized elegance of this masterpiece also bears witness to the adaptation of the great artists to religious prohibitions, representations of human beings and animals being strictly forbidden. By the use of openwork geometric and plant patterns, the artist clearly shows that his aim was not to imitate living beings.

Animal-shaped censers are among the most renowned pieces in Islamic and especially Persian metalwork.

It is unanimously admitted that the lion housed in the Hermitage Museum (Loukonine and Ivanov 1995, nos. 100-101) is the perfect archetype of this large group.

The closest parallels are most likely the example in the Khalili Collection (Khalili 2004; Rogers 2008, no. 98, pp. 94-95), that in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Dimand 1937) and that in the Louvre (Bernus-Taylor 1989, no. 122, p. 150). Another specimen, very similar to ours, was sold by Christie’s in London (Christie’s 2009).

All these parallels come from Persia and are dated between the 11th and the 12th century A.D., like the feline in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose inscription indicates that it was made in 1181-82 A.D. Given their refinement, they might well have been produced by the famous Herat blacksmiths, who were considered as the best craftsmen in the Seljuq Empire.

224 225

Condition Complete and in excellent condition. Surface largely covered with a green patina.

Provenance Ex-private collection; acquired on the American art market.

Exhibited Phoenix Ancient Art SA, Xème Biennale des Antiquaires de Paris, September 2006, cat. expo. no 13 ; Fondation Martin Bodmer, OrientOccident – Racines spirituelles de l’Europe, Cologny (Geneva), 21 November 2009 to April 4th, 2010.

Published CHAMAY J., Objets d’exception (Fondation Martin Bodmer), Geneva, 2010, pp. 30-31.

Bibliography A’LAM H., Caracal, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. 4, Winona Lake, 1988, pp. 788–790.

BERNUS-TAYLOR M., Arabesques et jardins de paradis, Paris, 1989.

Christie’s, Londres, October 6, 2009, Lot 21.

DIMAND M.S., A Persian Incense Burner of the Twelfth Century, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 6 (Jun., 1937), pp. 152-154.

KHALILI N.D., A Recently Acquired Incense Burner in the Khalili Collection, in Muqarnas, Vol. 21, Essays in Honor of J.M. Rogers, 2004, pp. 215-218.

LOUKONINE V. and IVANOV A., L’art persan, Saint Petersburg, 1995.

ROGERS J.M., The Arts of Islam: Treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, Abu Dhabi, 2008.

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82 Lamp with the head of an animal Roman (Egypt), Imperial period Bronze H: 9.8 cm (Enlarged)

This piece belongs to a specific group of lamps that are characteristic of Ptolemaic and especially Roman Egypt.

Such lamps indeed adopted the overall form of portable censers, larger in size but similar in shape (elongated and ovoid, with a flat upper surface and often terminating in a large open nozzle), supported by a tripod in the form of animal paws with a tall stem that served both to carry and to suspend the object.

Although censers were made exclusively of metal and decorated little, the lamps that copied them show great iconographic and technical variety.

First, there are the humble terracotta lamps, which simply take the shape of the reservoir (often resting on three small feet) and of the stem. Known as Tragelampen (hanging lamps), they are documented only in Egypt and do not appear to have been exported (Selesnow 1988, pp. 46-47).

Then, there are a large number of terracotta statuettelamps that copy the censer stems and especially the shape of the reservoir, to which were added, on the shaft, increasingly rich three-dimensional representations, ranging from the simple dolphin to more complex patterns, such as a pygmy playing the harp, or the Egyptian deity Bes dancing, which were particularly popular on this type of artifact.

Metal lamps imitating the morphology of censers are also well attested. On the one hand, there are the simple variants, like the iron example housed in the Royal Ontario Museum (Hayes 1984, no. 247, pp. 158-159) and the bronze specimen in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3719, p. 50, pl. 61), whose only ornamentation

is a duck’s head terminating the stem and serving as a hook. On the other hand, there are variants with a complicated rendering, such as the exuberant bronze lamp in the British Museum (Bailey 1996, Q 3593, p. 19, pl. 18) representing a young deer lying on its back, its head emerging from the shaft and its legs raised above the reservoir. A bull’s head also appears to the rear, springing from the neck of the deer.

Our example can be classified between these last two variants, since it shows simplicity in the details of the paws and of the reservoir, while featuring the head of an animal (probably a deer or a bovid), whose tongue sticking out of its mouth gives it charm and cheer. On top of the head, there is an incised square element, from which springs a tubular rod, to which the long shaft, now lost, would have been attached.

The study of this group of lamps, made of terracotta as well as of metal, and the presence of the vertical stem allowing easy carrying lead many scholars to link this type of lamp to the important religious festivals that attracted many believers, each equipped with a lamp (Selesnow 1988, p. 46), in particular the great annual festival of lights celebrating the birth of Isis (Salem 1937).

The dating of these lamps raises problems. Hayes, while carefully punctuating his hypotheses with question marks, suggests that these productions date to the 2nd and 1st century B.C. (Hayes 1980, pp. 40-41). However, Selesnow suggests dating them to the 1st century A.D., even dating an example from the Kaufmann Collection to the 2nd century A.D. (Selesnow 1988, pp.

46-47). Then again, Cahn-Klaiber goes as far as to date the lamps adorned with motifs in relief between the 2nd and the 4th century A.D. (Cahn-Klaiber 1977, pp.

171-174). More prudent, Bailey offers a chronology extending from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. for all terracotta lamps (Bailey 1988, pp. 221-222) and a chronology ranging from the 1st to the 2nd century A.D. for the bronze variants.

Condition Complete and in good condition, but the lid is now lost. Surface partially covered with a green patina. Legs a little unbalanced, neck slightly twisted.

Provenance Ex-Béla Hein Collection, Paris, collected before 1931.

Bibliography SALEM M.S., The ‘Lychnapsia Philocaliana’ and the Birthday of Isis, in The Journal of Roman Studies, 27:2, 1937, pp. 165-167.

83 Bowl lamp with a high foot Muslim (Near East), 13th - 14th century A.D. Turquoise-blue and black glazed ceramic H: 8.9 cm (Enlarged)

Turned lamp in the shape of a bowl with a pinched nozzle, provided with a tiny round central dish for the lower wick and with a ribbon handle connecting the back of the shoulder to the rim of the central dish.

High conical foot on a flat round base delineated by a ring in relief. The lamp is carefully decorated with three colors of glaze: turquoise-blue for the outer periphery of the central dish and to put in relief the ring separating the foot from the bowl; emerald green for the entire bowl; shiny black to highlight the upper surface of the nozzle and to draw simple motifs representing arcs inside the bowl, ridges on the handle and dots on the outer shoulder.

Our example belongs to a well documented type, originally characterized by a conical tank applied to the middle of the bowl lamp and provided with a handle between the back of the shoulder and the top of the tank. This type of lamp, first produced in Syria (Waage 1941, type 58b), in Palestine and in Egypt from the 9th century A.D. onward, was extremely popular, since it can be found throughout the southern Mediterranean basin as far as Morocco (Robert-Chaleix 1983, p. 65). It was also exported and then produced locally in sometimes very closely derived versions in Corinth (Broneer 1930, p. 124) and even in northern Greece (Motsianos 2005).

Within this large group, our lamp is a simplified later variant differing from the canonical type by a tank turning into a tiny central dish, like here, and by an increasingly pronounced nozzle. Produced as of the 12th century A.D. in Antioch and from the 13th to the 15th century A.D. in Egypt (Kubiak 1970, type J, p. 15), such lamps are usually decorated with a lead or a green glaze and are sometimes adorned with geometrical patterns on the bowl (Hadad 2002, type 47, p. 115).

Our lamp is probably a Near Eastern production dated between the 13th and the 14th century A.D. Condition Complete and in good condition, but glaze slightly faded and very cracked (especially inside the vessel); chips.

Provenance Ex-private collection; acquired on the Swiss art market in 1995.

Bibliography See Bibliography pp. 235-237.

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Credits

Selection of objects Ali Aboutaam et Hicham Aboutaam Project manager Hélène Yubero, Geneva Research Laurent Chrzanovski, Geneva Curatorship Virginie Sélitrenny, Geneva Brenno Bottini, Geneva Graphic concept mostra-design.com, Geneva Photography Atsuyuki Shimada, Osaka Stefan Hagen, New York (Nos. 11, 17, 74) André Longchamp, Geneva (Nos. 13, 60) Jeffrey Suckow, Geneva (Nos. 1, 3, 62) Printing HAYEZ, Brussels Print run 600 French 600 English

Geneva Ali Aboutaam Michael C. Hedqvist Phoenix Ancient Art S.A. 6, rue Verdaine - P.O. Box 3516 1211 Geneva 3, Switzerland T +41 22 318 80 10 F +41 22 310 03 88 E paa@phoenixancientart.com

New York Hicham Aboutaam Electrum, Exclusive Agent for Phoenix Ancient Art S.A. 47 East 66th Street New York, NY 10065, USA T +1 212 288 7518 F +1 212 288 7121 E info@phoenixancientart.com www.phoenixancientart.com

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