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.