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While literally thousands of terracotta oil lamps
survive from the Roman era, their bronze
counterparts are remarkably rare. An average
Roman citizen would have had a few fragile
terracotta lamps scattered about the house to
provide light in the hours of night. Bronze
lamps were the domain of the wealthy elite
whose villa would have been decorated with
durable bronze lamps displayed on elegant
stands. Bronze oil lamps were inherently more
expensive due to the high cost of refining and
casting metal. While luxury items in their own
time, bronze lamps were often melted down for
their metal value in times of war, only increasing
their scarcity today.
This gorgeous lamp hangs from three chains
attached at the handle and at the join of the
spout to the disc-shaped body. The bronze
chain is intact, and is highlighted with three thin
discs that break up the monotony of the links. In
antiquity, the body would have been filled with
an oil, be it olive, fish, or castor, whatever was
most plentiful in the region, and a wick wound
from fiber would have produced a gentle flame
at the spout. Although a bit smelly and dirty,
such an lamp could burn for up to ten hours in
one filling, enough to last through the darkest
night. We can picture this lamp illuminating an
ancient temple, the light flickering against the
columns, throwing shadows onto the ground.
However, it is just as likely that this lamp may
have hung from a tree in the garden of a Roman
villa while a wealthy merchant or officer hosted
an evening party.
- (X.0071)
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