Charles Ede Ltd (London), Antiquities 137 (1985) no. 6a (ill.).

1985.11

Roman Lamp

Purchased. Max. length 13.4cm

Intact and in good condition; apparently unused. Fairly pink clay with some small white inclusions and a consistent matt red slip over; the slip is somewhat mottled and has fired black on one side and about the handle.

The principal decoration consists of the Christian chi rho symbol in relief. The letters have impressed decoration of circles and leaves on the surface, faintly preserved and doubtless from a rather worn mould. This is set within a border of leaves between ridges which continue to the spout so as to hinder any oil from spilling over. There is a circular ridge for the foot; it joins to a ridge which runs up the back of the handle.

Of Tunisian manufacture and datable to the fifth century AD, and doubtless its second half. It is clear that they were not manufactured any earlier than 425-450.

For the style of decoration, compare that in the mould 1987.02. For lamps of this general type and with this kind of decoration, cf  E. Joly, Lucerne del Museo di Sabratha (Monografie di Archeologia Libica XI, Rome 1974) pll. 48ff. D.M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum, iii, Roman Provincial Lamps (London 1988) pll. 19-21, has comparable Tunisian lamps, and so too does M.T. Paleani, Le lucerne paleocristiane (Rome 1993). For the Christian monogram, see pp. 26-30, where he gives further references. There is also the catalogue raisonné by M. Barbera and R. Petriaggi, Museo Nazionale Romano. Le lucerne tardo-antiche di produzione Africana (Rome 1993) which under their series 6 and 7 has a number of comparable pieces. They show several versions of the chi-rho symbol on their pll. 16-19: note especially no. 209. See also M. Bonifay, Etudes sur la céramique romaine tardive d’Afrique (BAR Int. Series 1301, Oxford 2004) 373-388; his 379 fig. 212 no. 68 shows the closely comparable mould in the British Museum (Bailey Q 1760) which preserves a little more of the decoration on the monogram. There is also a good overview of the current state of scholarship on these lamps in the volume in honour of Bonifay by J. Rossiter, “North African Lamps: Bonifay and Beyond”, in: J.H. Humphrey (ed.), Studies on Roman Pottery of the Provinces of «Africa Proconsularis» and «Byzacena» (Tunisia) (JRA Suppl. 76, Providence R.I. 2009) 91-103.

See also D. Gaspar, “When Has Chi-Rho Become a Christian Symbol?”, in: J. Arce & F. Burkhalter (eds.), Bronces y religión romana. Actas del XI Congreso internacional de bronces antiguos, Madrid mayo-junio 1990 (Madrid 1993) 207-212: she argues that although it was an important shield device for Constantine’s troops at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312, it did not necessarily have a specifically Christian association until later, after Constantine’s death in AD 337. At that point it may have had a meaning in terms of the constellations, and more especially with Mars as god of War.

More recently there is also S. Casartelli Novelli, “La tipologia della croce dalle origini alla visione/rivelazione di Costantino”, in: B. Ulianich (ed.), La croce: iconografia e interpretazione, secoli I-inizio XVI: atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli (6-11 dicembre 1999), i (Naples 2007) 231-258, and C. Goodson, “Christograms on North African Lamps: Considering Context”, in: I. Gripzanov, C. Goodson and H. Maguire (eds), Graphic Signs of Identity, Faith and Power in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Turnhout 2017) 255ff.

The exhibition catalogue by J.J. Herrmann Jr. and A. Van Den Hoek, Light from the Age of Augustine. Late Antique Ceramics from North Africa (Tunisia) (Cambridge, Mass., 2002) includes a good selection of lamps and other vessels with Christian motifs.

Charles Ede Ltd (London), Antiquities 137 (1985) no. 6a (ill.).