Fig. 196.—Bronze lamps with covers ornamented with figures.
The name of the maker is often stamped upon the bottom of the lamp, sometimes in the nominative case, as Pulcher, in the example given in [Fig. 192], more often in the genitive and in an abbreviated form.
The variety displayed in the ornamentation of lamps was as great as that manifested in the forms. Ornament was applied to all parts,—the body, the handle, the cover, and even the nozzle. The covers of the two bronze lamps shown in [Fig. 196] are adorned with figures. On one is a Cupid struggling with a goose. The chain attached to the right hand of the figure on the other is fastened to a hooked needle for pulling out the wick.
Fig. 197.—Three hanging lamps. The one at the left and the middle one are presented in two views.
The object of which we give a representation in [Fig. 198], often erroneously classed as a lamp, is a nursing bottle, biberon. The material is clay, and the figure of a gladiator is stamped on it, symbolizing the hope that the infant will develop strength and vigor. On some bottles of this kind the figure of a thriving child is seen, on others a mother suckling a child.