Antiquities Discussion Forums > Oil Lamps

How about this oil lamp? is it from the Roman Period

<< < (2/3) > >>

epmunt:
Hi David,

How about this:

ATTRACTIVE SWAN KYLIX, APULIAN, 4th ctry. B.C. Intact with no restorations.

Swan surrounded by olive branch.

Diam. across handles, 23.5 cm. - Height 5.5 cm

Is this a good one?

From the same dealer. Dangerous too?

Strobilus:

--- Quote ---It seems the reddish colour was painted outside, insde is a little bit white caly. Is that normal? Does a real lamp paint?
--- End quote ---

It is normal (though not invariable) for both authentic Loeschcke Type I lamps and these Bulgarian copies to have a coloured (typically reddish-brown) coating on the exterior. In authentic lamps the coating is a 'slip', created by brushing on or dipping into a thin wash of fine clay. This method appears to have been occasionally used for the fakes too but very often the wash is merely an artificial paint.

In authentic lamps the clay used for the core and the slip varied from region to region (providing a useful way of identifying unprovenanced lamps - though this has not yet been fully analysed) and sometimes from maker to maker.

Both real lamps and the copies very often have a whitish coating or 'encrustation' inside. In authentic lamps this coating is typically caused by calcite deposits or catalytic processes in the soil. I suspect that in the fakes this internal coating is induced and accelerated by swilling the lamp with thin muddy water or chemicals (perhaps mixed with adhesive), then burying the lamp in soil for a few months and letting nature take its course. It is amazing how fast a genuine coating can form under burial.

There is a small selection of authentic Loeschcke Type I lamps here which may help you to familiarise yourself with what the real thing looks like:
http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/lampcat/lampcat2.shtml



--- Quote ---By the way how about the market price for this kind of lamp? if there's a real one exists? and what is the price of repro?
--- End quote ---

Prices vary enormously. Authentic lamps of this type can be very reasonably priced and it is ironic that the fakes often fetch higher prices than the real thing on venues such as eBay because people think they must be getting a bargain.


---------------------------------------------

Regarding the kylix: I specialise in lamps and cannot comment meaningfully on objects outside my area of expertise - except to warn that Apulian pottery has been notoriously faked for many years and a great deal of this stuff seems to be coming out of the Netherlands at present.

These pages may be of interest:

http://www.collector-antiquities.com/152/
http://www.collector-antiquities.com/178/
http://www.collector-antiquities.com/198/

I would just say that I am particularly suspicious of your kylix.

Strobilus:
I see you have edited and added to your post #4 since I posted my reply.

The new lamp you added is another Bulgarian fake. Apart from other incongruities, beware of Loeschcke Type I lamps with a raised lip at the end of the nozzle.

Your quote about slip is an excellent summary. I would just add that a grey or black colour could be deliberate but was also sometimes the result of an accident in kiln firing (as probably happened here http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/database/lamp.php?32 ) or a later fire (as here http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/p/pottery_oil-lamp.aspx ).


--- Quote ---I think the price is also an indication of real or not.

--- End quote ---

Not necessarily. The dealer himself may be fooled.

epmunt:
This is only for the nozzle shape comparison. As you mentioned the shapes were different.

epmunt:
Hi David,

Thanks for your help. I am a coin collector. Comparing to coins, the ceramics are so difficult to identify.

I wonder those daily used stuff, how could they use same type of moulds? Keep in similar shape..

I just made large pictures, please look the details.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page