Object Number: LC025
Object Title: Oil Lamp
Object Type: lamp (lighting devices)
Material: bronze (material)
This bronze hanging oil lamp at first seems simple in design and purely utilitarian. However, upon further inspection one can see the handles attached to the chainlinks to be the heads of ducks or geese, masterfully crafted to exhibit both detail and durability in order to hold the weight of the lamp. This lamp is a unique member of the Joukowsky Collection: being one of the only hanging lamps in the Vault with its chains intact, it would have likely been hung from a complimentary stand, which might have been decorated to match the ducks we see today.
Metal lamps became popular for elite classes in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine period, often made of bronze. However, these lamps often do not survive into the archaeological record, as they were often melted down to be made into something else. (Milwaukee Public Museum) While we do not know exactly where and when this lamp was created, the two nozzle suspension lamp was characteristic of Roman bronze metallurgy starting in 1st century B.C.E. Many of these lamps had three suspension chains that would be connected to a hook or a ring, which would then be hung from a ceiling or lamp stand depending on the owner’s needs. (Oclay 2001) Whether or not this lamp is Roman, or a reproduction of an ancient Roman style, has not been determined. Still, we know lamps in Anatolia and beyond served more than just a functional purpose. In Ancient Rome, lamps were used to honor people of high-standing in society, by lighting their path as they moved forward in the procession. This ceremonial performance would later be assimilated into Christian funeral rites under the Byzantine empire. (Oclay 2001)
In Ancient Rome, ducks often represented femininity and the domestic sphere, and geese were considered the sacred animal of Juno, the goddess of marriage and queen of the gods. Geese have also played a crucial role in Roman military history, as it said that geese alerted Roman soldiers to a siege on Juno’s temple by the Gauls, saving the soldier’s stationed there their lives. (Grupe & Peters 2005) Duck and geese iconography has appeared across the Byzantine Empire, such as in the case of the “Bird Mosaic” found in Caesarea or “Bird and Flowers” mosaic from the 6th Century AD. Given the assimilation of Ancient Roman iconography into early Christian culture, it is possible that the ideals of femininity present in Roman artifacts would be present in the domestic artifacts of the Byzantine Empire. While for now still a mystery, it points to the complex process of acculturation at the fall of the Roman Empire and rise of the Byzantine.
Christina Miles (`25)
Works Cited
Albarella, Umberto “Alternate fortunes? The Role of domestic ducks and geese from Roman to Medieval times in Britain.” Documenta Archaeobiolgiae III. Bavarian State Collection of Anthropology and Paleoanatomy.
Oclay, Yelda B (2001). “Lighting Methods in the Byzantine Period and Findings of Glass Lamps in Anatolia.” Journal of Glass Studies, Vol. 43. Corning Museum of Glass.