A lamp such as this might have lit homes at
the dawn of the Christian era. A metaphor of
joy and prosperity, for hope, for life itself,
lamps have illuminated the path of civilization
for centuries. They have guided great
thoughts through the night, stood vigil with
lonely passions. In the presence of this simple
object, we are in touch directly with a
vanished world, with the people once warmed
by its glow. Today it remains as an enduring
symbol of man's desire to conquer the
darkness. This particular lamp's discus flows
effortlessly into its shoulders creating an
amorphous design. The upper half of this oil
lamp has a simplistic raised-line pattern that
draws the eye to the filling hole and the wick
hole, or mouth, respectively. These
impressions were practical as well as
decorative, as they would catch any spilled
oil.
- (LK.342)
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