Byzantine Period Pottery Oil Lamp from the Holy Land (Wilmington, DE)

Byzantine Period Pottery Oil Lamp from the Holy Land

CULTURE REGION OF ORIGN Byzantine Empire specifically Samaria in Palestine DATE 6th - 7th Century CE DIMENSIONS 9.9 cm (3.89 in.) long DESCRIPTION Intact. A mold made pottery oil lamp dating to the Byzantine period in Palestine. The lamp is formed from pinkish clay and rests on a nearly flat base with an ill-defined circle at its center. The upper surfaces are decorated in relief with alternating vertical lines in groups and bunches of grapes inside circles. A small saddle shaped handle rises from the rear decorated with a single central vertical line. The small nozzle and wick hole are decorated with a larger bunch of grapes motif.Minimal signs of lime encrustation and faint evidence of carbon black at the wick hole. An outstanding example. PROVENANCE Property of a Colorado private collector who assembled a large collection of oil lamps ceramics and related antiquities while serving with the United Nations inthe Middle East in the mid-1960s thence by descent to themost recent owner. COMPARISONS For a closely related example of this less common type see Rosenthal and Sivan Ancient Lamps in the Schloessinger Collection Jeruslaem 1978 I. Rare Forms 527. View this item on our website at www.clioancientart.com catalog i340.html