Some of the larger lamps in the first class, especially those with more than one nozzle, have a flat vertical projection attached to the top of the handle, triangular in form or crescent-shaped (as in Fig. [204]), and this is often ornamented with figures in relief, either whole subjects or busts of deities, or such simple motives as a pair of dolphins, a leaf, or a palmette. The figure-subjects are often quasi-Egyptian, such as Harpocrates and Safekh on a British Museum example (No. 337 = Plate [LXIII]. fig. 3), or a lectisternium of Sarapis, Isis, Helios, and Selene.[[2772]] In a few cases this projection is replaced by a bust or even a seated figure of Sarapis enthroned in a niche. But in most cases the handle, when present, is of a simple form, either a ring with shallow parallel grooves or a solid projecting piece through which a hole is pierced.
PLATE LXIII
Roman Lamps of Various Forms (First Cent. B.C.)
(British Museum).
Lamps of terracotta often assume, like those in bronze,[[2773]] a more ornamental form, being modelled partly or wholly in the form of figures, heads, animals, and so on. In some cases the upper part or discus only is modelled, assuming the form of a mask—Satyric, theatrical, or grotesque.[[2774]] Among the entire-figures which form lamps occur Artemis,[[2775]] Eros,[[2776]] Victory slaying a bull,[[2777]] and various animals; more common are heads of Zeus Ammon,[[2778]] Pan, Seilenos,[[2779]] negroes,[[2780]] and animals such as oxen, birds, snails, frogs, or tortoises.[[2781]] A favourite shape is a lamp in the form of a foot or a pair of feet, shod in sandals or boots,[[2782]] and there are two lamps in the British Museum, one of enamelled ware, in the form of a gladiator’s helmet[[2783]]; others form fruit, pine-cones or crescents.[[2784]] In the lamps which are modelled in the form of a head, the chin usually forms the nozzle, and the orifice for filling is on the forehead; in those in the shape of a foot the nozzle is formed by the great toe. Occasionally lamps are found in the form of a ship, recalling that which, according to Apuleius, was used in the worship of Isis: a golden boat or cup (cymbium, see Vol. I. p. [186]), which shone with a clear light and sent forth a long flame.[[2785]] An interesting commentary on this use of lamps is formed by a remarkable example in the British Museum (Plate [LXIII]. fig. 1),[[2786]] which is not only in the shape of a boat, but is decorated with subjects referring to the pseudo-Egyptian cults characteristic of Rome in the late republican and early imperial period. This lamp, which is no less than twenty inches long and has numerous holes for wicks along the sides, was dredged up from the sea at Pozzuoli, where it may originally have been in the temple of Isis and Sarapis. On it is the inscription
, signifying “a prosperous voyage,” perhaps as a prayer on behalf of the donor, and underneath are the words
