Roman Pottery Oil Lamp w/ Grasshopper

Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. This beautiful mold-formed oil lamp with sienna color glaze sits upon a flattened base with five concentric circles of a bullseye design. The wide walls have a rounded wick spout, flanked by four spiraling volutes that lead to an egg and dart pattern around two incised circles and a recessed tondo. The shallow tondo has a bas-relief grasshopper flying right over a wheat head and a fill hole. This imagery is an interesting choice, but perhaps the chirping chords grasshoppers produce were intended to reference Apollo, the god of music! Size: 3.375" W x .875" H (8.6 cm x 2.2 cm)

Provenance: ex Property from the George R. Francoeur Trust, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, sold to benefit the George R. Francoeur Scholarship Fund at Cranbrook Academy of Art before 2000

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Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#157141
Condition Report: Small repair to rim area. Old inventory labels on base. Surface wear, abrasions, and nicks commensurate with age. Slight fading to glaze, but a gorgeous red color throughout.