Important Roman Oil Lamp with Villa Rustica, Merchant and Ship
Culture: Roman
Period: Late 2nd century A.D.
Material: Terracotta
Dimensions: 14 cm long
Price: 12 000 Euro
Ref: 7053
Provenance: From the estate of the French Archaeologist Suzanne Gozlan (1921-2022), professor at the l’Ecole Normale d’Instituteurs de Chartres and lecturer at the Parisian Sorbonne.
Condition: A small ancient chip on the shoulder, otherwise intact. At the bottom a small, filled hole, which was closed in ancient times. Overall, a museum-quality oil lamp in a beautiful condition.
Description: A unique and correspondingly important clay oil lamp with a detailed image depicting Roman goods traffic from a villa rustica to a sailing ship. The large lamp, modelled from a form, has a long, triangular snout, which is strongly pulled in at the sides and framed by volutes. At the front is the nozzle, immediately followed by the pictorial depiction. It shows a goods ship sailing to the left. The round main image area in the mirror of the lamp is framed by even grooves. It is of particular importance because of the detailed depiction of a villa rustica, a Roman country house from the late 2nd century. The multi-storey Roman villa with a gabled roof and small windows rises in the background. The side wings also have gabled roofs, but with large angular and round windows. A covered porch with columns runs between the multi-storey parts of the building. In the foreground, possibly the owner of the villa can be seen to the left in his small, horse-drawn, two-wheeled carriage. He holds the reins with one hand. Behind him rises the semicircular sunshade on the traveling carriage. An errand boy runs in front of him. He holds a jug in his right hand and in his left the loop of a bag that hangs over his shoulder. The lamp has a ring-shaped handle at the back with two small grooves on the front and stands on a foot ring. The bottom with an ancient repair. See for the size and shape the oil lamp in the British Museum with Registration Number 1814,0704.106.