 |
You are considering an extremely unusual decorated terracotta oil lamp, Roman, dating to 120-180 AD and by a known lamp maker.
This rare oil lamp is adorned with the standing image of a Siren, advancing from right to left, right hand raised and her left holding pipes.
According to Greek mythology, the sirens were creatures composed of half women and half bird bodies. They were purported to live on a rocky isle to which they lured unwary seafarers with enchanting music. In Greek mythology it is said that Odysseus, on the way back from the Trojan War, had to pass by the island of the sirens. In order to survive the ordeal, he forced his crew to tie him to the mast of the ship, whilst he ensured that all his men plugged their ears with wax. In this way, they all managed to sail by the sirens without been lured to death by their enchanting music!
It is signed on the back by the maker - 'MNOVIVST'. This is a well known oil lamp manufacturer, Marcus Novius Justus, who operated a workshop in what is now Tunisia in North Africa. We know that his workshop lasted from approximately 120-180 AD and that his 'brand' was so highly revered that counterfeit workshops existed in other parts of the empire!
A quality museum piece. We have struggled to find a corollary for this remarkable lamp. Sirens are rare themes in ancient art and particularly so on ancient oil lamps. This is one of the finest such lamps available on the art market.
Length: 5 1/4 inches.
Provenance: From an old English collection (Mr V) of quality oil lamps purchased from the European art market in the 1970's.
Further reading: An impressive online resource of ancient oil lamps, containing lamps of the same maker can be seen at the RomQ reference collection, which at the time of writing can be found at the following address: http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/index.shtml
|
