Round Terracotta Lamp with Petal and Volute Relief

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Description: 

Round Terracotta Lamp with Petal and Volute Relief

terracotta: moldmade, fabric: fine with small inclusions, mica; thin walled. Munsell: 10 YR 7/3 very pale brown
height 2.3 cm
length 8.0 cm
width 5.9 cm

Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Bogue Lamp Collection, Lamp ID #331, PSU 074 (101)

 

Professor Anne Nicogorski, Willamette University, cited with permission

This gray lamp is covered by an orange slip. It is circular in form and has a medium length, voluted nozzle. The centrally pierced, recessed discus is void of any decoration but is surrounded by a rosary. It lacks a handle. Shape: Round bodied lamp with flat base set off by very slight circular groove; sloping lower body profile; sharply carinated at shoulder; broad concave discus with central fill hole; discus set off by pair of circular ridges/grooves; extended short nozzle, rounded at end. Holes look pierced. Decoration: Reddish brown slip covering all surfaces (2.5 YR 5/6 red).  Relief decoration on shoulder consisting of petals radiating from outer edge of discus (stamped?); pair of relief volutes on either side of nozzle extending onto shoulder, tapering into ridges on lower body. Inscriptions: None. Condition: Intact; slightly cracked where mold pieces join in one area; surface worn in places; slight traces of burning 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.