Delphiniform Terracotta Lamp with Dolphin Design

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Description: 

Delphiniform Terracotta Lamp with Dolphin Design

terracotta: mold-made, terracotta, fabric: fine clay with some inclusions. Munsell: 10 YR 5/1 gray
height 3.5 cm
length 11.5 cm
width 7.2 cm

Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Bogue Lamp Collection, Lamp ID #164, PSU 18

 

Professor Anne Nicogorski, Willamette University, cited with permission

This fictile, delphiniform lamp has a long, decorated nozzle and is decorated with looped rays extending from the recessed fill hole. The pierced handle is a side projection which is formed close to the nozzle. Shape: Round-bodied lamp with almond-shaped ring base; long extended nozzle with triangular termination, rounded at tip; slightly carinated body profile; central fill hole in concave discus; partially pierced side lug in shape of a dolphin. Decoration: Traces of black slip. Relief decoration on top consisting of a radiating double petal design on the shoulder around discus; two bands of cable pattern on either side of nozzle; nozzle axis outlined by pair of volutes that curl into body, flanking stylized relief thyrsus with ribbon tied around shaft. Inscriptions: None. Condition: Intact; slip mostly worn away; encrustation; small chip at nozzle; other minor surface chips; burnt at nozzle.

Protocol: 
Portland State University Middle East Studies Center - Public Access
Community: 
Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Category: 
Ceramics, Utilitarian Objects
Keywords: 
Lamp
Rights: 
Image reproduced with permission from Portland State University Middle East Studies Center. The institutions that house the specific Medieval Portland objects ultimately hold the rights to their image and reproduction; the images are provided here as a courtesy by those institutions and are for non-profit, educational use only.