- Title
- Oil Lamp
- Date Made
- 7th-8th century
- Medium
- Earthenware, molded and glazed with applied handles
- Dimensions
- 1 5/16 x 3 1/2 in. (3.33 x 8.89 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2002.1.73
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Islamic
- Curatorial Notes
As a portable source of light, oil lamps were an important element of daily life across the ancient Mediterranean region. While lamps were made from a variety of materials, such as stone, glass, and metal, ceramic versions were the most ubiquitous, as evidenced by the large numbers uncovered at archaeological sites. Clay provided a cheap and easy means for mass-producing small oil lamps, and numerous examples survive especially from the Late Antique period onward. Unlike many unglazed lamps of the same shape, this petite example, decorated with tiny roundels enclosing ducks or swans, is further embellished with a yellow glaze that approximates gold, elevating the humble clay material.
2024
