Terracotta lamp

Period:: Classical

Date:: 5th century B.C.

Culture:: Greek, Attic

Medium:: Terracotta; black-glaze

Dimensions:: Overall: 7/8 x 3 1/8 x 4 5/16 in. (2.2 x 8 x 11 cm)

Classification:: Vases

Credit Line:: Gift of Dietrich von Bothmer, 1947

Accession Number:: 47.129

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 154

In antiquity, most interior lighting was provided by oil lamps set on stands or suspended by chains or cords. Drinking parties, which were always held at night after dinner, would have been brightly lit by flickering flames. This simple type of lamp has a narrow handle that could be used to hang the lamp from a peg when it was not in use.

Timelines
Ancient Greece, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

Department

Greek and Roman Art (17,248)

Object Type / Material

Clay (22,581)

Lamps (1,151)

Lighting devices (2,627)

Geographic Location

Date / Era

1000 B.C.–A.D. 1 (16,730)

Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

Artist: Date: late 10th–early 9th century B.C.
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Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Artist: Attributed to a painter of the Princeton Group Date: ca. 540–530 B.C. Medium: Terracotta Accession: 2010.147 On view in:Gallery 155

Terracotta oinochoe (jug)

Artist: Date: mid-4th century B.C.
Accession Number: 25.190 Date: mid-4th century B.C. Medium: Terracotta Accession: 25.190 On view in:Gallery 158

Terracotta loutrophoros (ceremonial vase for water)

Artist: Date: late 6th century B.C.
Accession Number: 27.228 Date: late 6th century B.C. Medium: Terracotta Accession: 27.228 On view in:Gallery

Terracotta alabastron (perfume vase) in the form of a woman holding a dove

Artist: Date: mid-6th century B.C.
Accession Number: 30.11.6 Date: mid-6th century B.C. Medium: Terracotta Accession: 30.11.6 On view in:Gallery 152