1932.88.340

Collection type

Object

Description

Pottery lamp of cream ware slipped black. [MOBB [OPS move] 22/09/2016]

Long description

Pottery lamp of cream ware slipped black. Circular body with flat foot and expanding sides with convex top. The central filling hole has a slightly raised rim. The projecting wick nozzle has almost straight sides and expanded wick lip. There is a ring handle attached at the top of the back of the lamp. There is a Greek inscription scratched around the edge of the top of the object. [MOBB [OPS move] 22/09/2016]

Geographical reference

Italy

Europe > Southern Europe > Italy

Puglia [Apulia] Provincia di Taranto Taranto Murare [Muri] Vetere

Person

Field collector Henry Balfour

PRM source Henry Balfour

Date / Period

Archaeological period: Ancient Greek Archaeological period: Iron Age

Date collected

1895

Acquisition information

Donated: 1932

Materials and processes

Material Pottery, Process Slipped, Process Inscribed

Dimensions

Diameter: max 73 mm, Height: max 63 mm, Length: max 132 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1932.88.340 Other numbers: G 43

Research and responses

Veteres means 'old', and I believe that Murare/Muri means 'wall' or something similar. Balfour may be referring to the old city walls/defences of Taranto where excavations seem to have been underway in 1895 [see page 292 of the 1896 issue of The American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts, accessible online at http://www.archive.org/details/americanjournalo11archuoft]. [MN 14/08/2009]

During a research visit in 2010, Yannis Galanakis noted that "Among the lamps, of great interest are two black-glaze lamps (fourth–second century BC), both of which are inscribed with personal names. They both come from H. Balfour’s collection and are said to have been found in the 1895 excavations at the ancient walls (muri veteri) at Taranto. The first lamp (1932.88.342) bears the name ΛΑΩΣ; if not a forgery, it should perhaps stand for ΛΑΟΣ, a rare name, encountered in certain regions, e.g. Macedonia, central Greece, Bithynia, Apulia. The second lamp (1932.88.340) bears the name ΛΑΟΚΑΝΔΙΟΣ; again if not a forgery, the name is unattested so far in this compound form. The personal name ΚΑΝΔΙΟΣ, though rare, is attested in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor." [Dan Hicks 02/05/2012]

Associated publications

Illustrated in colour as Figure 16.6 on page 349 of 'Iron Age and Roman Italy', by Zena Kamash, Lucy Shipley, Yannis Galanakis and Stella Skaltsa, in World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum: A Characterization, edited by Dan Hicks and Alice Stevenson (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2013), pp. 336-357. Caption (same page): 'Figure 16.6 (Right) Ceramic black-glazed lamp with projecting nozzle and ring handle, donated to the PRM by Henry Balfour in 1932. an inscription reads ΛΑΟΚΑΝΔΙΟΣ (c. 400-200 BCE) (PRM Accession Number 1932.88.340).'. [MJD 30/06/2014]

Search terms: Lighting, Pottery, Writing, Lamp, Inscription