Almond Shaped Terracotta Lamp with Maltese Cross and Rosary Relief

Description: 

Almond Shaped Terracotta Lamp with Maltese Cross and Rosary Relief

East Christian

terracotta: mold-made, fabric: fine reddish clay with some inclusions. Munsell: 2.5 YR 6/6 light red
height 5.7 cm
length 10.9 cm
width 7.2 cm

Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Bogue Lamp Collection, Lamp ID #161, PSU 16bis (29)

 

Professor Anne Nicogorski, Willamette University, cited with permission

This fictile lamp of unsaturated pink hue is of an almond shape and has a Maltese cross on a rosary which encircles the fill hole, the cross extending toward the full nozzle. The thick loop handle extends from the edge of the recessed fill hole to the top of the rim. Shape: Almond-shaped lamp with flat base; slightly carinated body profile; central fill hole in concave discus; wick hole at narrow end of body; high swung vertical ring handle with groove on top, opposite nozzle. Decoration: Traces of reddish slip. Relief decoration on top consisting of a row of raised dots encircling the discus; Latin cross with flanged ends on nozzle axis. Inscriptions: None. Condition: Mostly complete; heavily chipped and broken around nozzle; burnt around nozzle; minor surface chips; worn; encrustation.