Sicilian Lamp - 1973.03

Acquisition number: 1973.03

Other images

Three Sicilian Lamps. Left to right: 1966.15, 1973.03, 1973.04.

Intact. Rough pink-buff clay, slightly micaceous and with red inclusions. Carinated wall with out-turned rim. Unpainted. Burnt about the nozzle from use.

Title: Sicilian Lamp - 1973.03

Acquisition number: 1973.03

Author or editor: J.R. Green

Culture or period: Sicilian.

Date: 6th century BC.

Material: Clay - Terracotta

Object type: Lamps - Terracotta

Dimensions: 61mm (l) × 45mm (w) × 17mm (h)

Origin region or location: Italy

Display case or on loan: 10

Keywords: Sicilian, Lamp

J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 80.

1973.03

Sicilian Lamp

Cyril Henry Leach Bequest by courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum. Ht 1.7cm; length 6.1cm; diam. 4.5cm.

Intact. Rough pink-buff clay, slightly micaceous and with red inclusions. Carinated wall with out-turned rim. Unpainted. Burnt about the nozzle from use.

Despite their differences in detail, these three small lamps all belong to the same basic type characterized by its relatively large nozzle and, more especially, by the very simple body with more or less vertical wall and lack of any form of cover. Their chronology is not entirely secure but they most likely belong to the sixth century BC. An apparent counterpart in fabric as well as form is one published in the catalogue Sir John and Lady Beazley Gifts (ed. H.W. Catling et al., Oxford 1967) pl. 61, 456, but that is said to have been found at Kade Kui (ancient Chalcedon) in Turkey.

See 1966.15 and 1973.04 in this catalogue for a similar lamp.

J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 80.

Donated by the British Museum in 1973 as part of the Cyril Henry Leach Bequest. Bequest was not made specifically to the ANU but was made generally to "Museums or University teaching collections where they would be displayed, used and much appreciated" and was to be executed through the British Museum. Objects from the bequest were given to the ANU when Reader in Classics K L McKay asked the British Museum if they were able to pass on material which could supplement the ANU's teaching collection.