Round Terracotta Lamp with Relief of Human Figure Riding a Gazelle

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Description: 

Round Terracotta Lamp with Relief of Human Figure Riding a Gazelle

Egyptian, 3rd century?                                        

terracotta: mold-made, fabric: fine. Munsell: 2.5YR 4/4 reddish brown
height 3.0 cm
length 8.4 cm
width 6.5 cm

Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Bogue Lamp Collection, Lamp ID #303, PSU 065 (92)

 

Professor Anne Nicogorski, Willamette University, cited with permission

This brown lamp is molded in a circular form with its short, thick nozzle protruding from one side. The pierced handle is missing. The eccentrically pierced, recessed discus is decorated with the relief of a human figure riding on the back of a gazelle. Shape: Round bodied lamp with flat base; slightly convex side walls, carinated to curved shoulder; broad concave discus with off-center fill hole; short, rounded nozzle; vertical, probably ring handle in rear (broken away). Decoration: Relief decoration on top consisting of pattern of tendrils on shoulder with pair of raised rectangles on cross-axis; figure in discus riding animal, in profile to left; animal standing on thick ground line with raised right foreleg; long tail curling upward; possibly has horns or antlers; figure appears to have child’s proportions. Inscriptions: None. Condition: Body complete; worn; handle broken (possibly repaired and re-broken); heavily burnt.

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.