Fig. 198.—A nursing bottle.
Three kinds of supports for lamps may be distinguished according to their size: lamp standards, which stood on the floor and ranged in height from 2½ to 5 feet; lamp holders, not far from 20 inches high, which were placed on tables; and small lamp stands, also used on the table. The general term candelabrum was originally applied to candle holders containing several candles (candelae). Such candle holders have been found in Etruscan graves, but the candelabra met with at Pompeii were all designed to carry lamps.
The lamp standards, of bronze, are often of graceful proportions and ornamented in good taste. The feet are modelled to represent the claws ([Fig. 199]) or hoofs of animals. The slender shaft rises sometimes directly from the union of the three legs at the centre, sometimes from a round, ornamented disk resting on the legs. Above the shaft is usually an ornamental form, a sphinx, as in our illustration, a head, or a vase-like capital sustaining the round flat top on which the lamp rested. Occasionally the shaft is replaced by a conventional plant form.
Adjustable standards also occur; the upper part slides up and down in the hollow shaft of the lower part, so that the height can be changed at will.
The bronze lamp holders were sometimes designed to support a single lamp ([Fig. 200]). Frequently the main part divides into two branches, each of which sustains a small round disk for a lamp; often the arms or branches were designed to carry hanging lamps. The example shown in [Fig. 201] is from the villa of Diomedes.
In the lamp holders conventional plant forms are more frequently met with than in the standards. The trunk of a tree with spreading branches is especially common ([Fig. 202]).
Fig. 199.—Lamp standard, of bronze.