For a 3D model made by the Virtual Curation Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University, see https://skfb.ly/ortJY
AWG0000.01.05 (UR6007)
Roman
1st-3rd century CE
Material: Terracotta
Technique: Mold made
Weight: 42g
Dimensions: 7.5cm long, max. width 5cm, max. height 2cm
Condition: Good; inscription on bottom is faint
Provenance: Unknown
Source/donor: Unknown
Date of acquisition: The old inventory number beginning with UR suggests that it was part of the Richmond College Museum collection. Other UR-numbered items were displayed in the Biology Museum in Maryland Hall beginning in 1932.
Research by: Paige Walworth (Maggie Walker Governor’s School, ’22), Amy Nicholas, ’11
Detailed description of form/shape:
Made out of buff-colored clay, this lamp has a paraboloid shape with a flat base, a slightly curved nozzle, and a transverse, pierced handle. There are five notches at the base of the nozzle, of which the central one extends towards the body and forms a triangular frame around the center hole. Traces of burning are evident at the nozzle, where blackish marks appear around the wick hole.
Detailed description of decoration:
Around the center hole there is an incised “V” shape with five parallel notches under the central point of the etching. The base of the lamp is inscribed with a faint potter’s mark, “M TERTV.”
Comparanda:
British Museum inv. no. Q 1153 (A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum Vol 2: Roman Lamps made in Italy, 1980, pg. 267, Plates 49-50, Fig. 112)
Museum of London inv. no. 2153 (Illuminating Roman Britain, 2002, fig. 91)
For an earlier form bird’s head lamp, cf. Louvre, inv. no. CA 6691, “lampe” (Louvre Online Collection)
For a later form bird’s head lamp with a similar maker’s mark–“FAB TERTIA(?)”–cf. Penn Museum, inv. no. MS2041, “Lamp” (Penn Museum Online Collection)
Discussion:
Vogelkopflampen are characterized by a broad nozzle and transverse handle. The German name (which literally means “bird head lamp”) refers to the two birds’ heads with which early forms of these lamps were decorated. While early examples showed clearly-depicted birds, the bird forms were eventually simplified to parallel notches, like the ones seen on this lamp. This lamp is most likely a Late Vogelkopflamp because the birds appear as marks, the handle is transverse and pierced, it has an overall paraboloid shape, and there does not appear to have been any slip applied—all characteristics of the late version.
These lamps were made for convenience during transport. Because of their curves, they can be packed closely together in boxes for greater efficiency. This idea was presented as Colini’s hypothesis and an image of the methods used in packing can be seen here:
Colini’s hypothesis (Bailey 1980, plate 49)
Bibliography:
Bailey, Donald M. A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum Vol 2: Roman Lamps made in Italy. London: British Museum, 1980.
Bussière, Jean, and Birgitta Lindros Wohl. Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017. http://www.getty.edu/publications/ancientlamps.
Eckardt, Hella. Illuminating Roman Britain. Montagnac: Instrumentum, 2002.