David Knell

20 hours ago, Octavius said:

 Some c. first century Roman lamps,  griffin , ass, bull , and Pegasus..

 

Octavius,

Your lamps are very attractive but I'm afraid your third one (bull's head on discus) almost certainly belongs to the Bulgarian Volute Series and has all the characteristics (fabric/slip, artificial deposits, shoulder treatment, lipped nozzle, artistic style, and other giveaway idiosyncrasies) of the First Batch, made from about 2004 to 2011.
https://romulus2.com/lamps/fakes/fakes1.shtml#bulgarianvolute

David
 

On 6/20/2022 at 10:54 PM, DonnaML said:

Returning to the primary thread subject of my own antiquities collection, the additional item I mentioned above has now arrived. Here it is with its write-up, put together from the dealer's description and various other sources as set forth below:

Ancient Roman oil lamp displaying the characteristic red slip of North African terra sigillata [manufactured in Central Tunisia]. The vessel features a long canal nozzle and a rounded body. To the top, the discus is decorated with a small palmette, flanked by two rampant animals: a hound (wearing a collar) to the right, and a gazelle or other type of antelope to the left [the dealer identified it as a deer, but there are no deer in North Africa!], perhaps depicting a hunting scene. The shoulders, acting as a decorative border for the scene, feature a neatly drawn geometric pattern comprising concentric circles and triangles. A lug handle extends outwards to the rear of the lamp for holding. The reverse presents a short circular base, centred by two concentric grooves. Ca. mid-5th Century AD.  Length 5.5" (approx. 14 cm.). Purchased June 2022 from Ancient & Oriental (antiquities.co.uk), London, UK (Christopher J. Martin); ex "S.M. Collection, London, Mayfair, acquired 1970s-90s." Stated condition: Fine condition; a minor crack at the back of the handle and base ring. Signs of repair to the base. Hayes Type IIA [see J.W. Hayes, Late Roman Pottery (British School at Rome, London 1972) (Hayes 1972); see also J.W. Hayes, Ancient Lamps in the Royal Ontario Museum, a Catalogue; Vol. I, Greek & Roman Clay Lamps (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 1980) (Hayes 1980), pp. 63, 68 & Pl. 34 No. 288 et al.]; Atlante Type X [see Carandini, A., et al., eds. 1981, Ceramica fine romana nel bacino mediterraneo (medio et tardo impero), Vol. 1 of Atlante delle forme
ceramiche. (Enciclopedia dell’arte antica), Rome.]* 

Dealer's photo:

My photos:

The new lamp together with the one described earlier in this thread as the last item in my post at https://www.numisforums.com/topic/199-a-thread-for-my-antiquities/#comment-3606  (purchased at Coincraft, London in 2002), also a Hayes Type IIA from North Africa (Tunisia) ca. mid-5th Century AD, 1/2" longer and quite a bit deeper:

 

More dealer photos:

*I was a bit concerned about how pristine this lamp looked in the dealer's photo compared to my other one, although I didn't have major concerns given that the dealer, CJ Martin, is a highly reputable antiquities (and ancient coin) dealer of long standing.  (And, in any event, one can clearly see in hand a lot of the original dirt from excavation, in the crevices and openings.) So I posted the photo in the groups.io ancient artifacts group, and received the following comments, among others, from some of the experts there:

From Robert Kokotailo of the Calgary Coin Gallery:  "nothing about it looks off to me.  These lamps were often used as grave goods where they show in as new condition as the dry climate in North African can preserve such things very well.   As grave goods some were never used so the nozzles don't get the typical burn deposits most lamps have."

From @David Knell, an expert specifically on ancient oil lamps; see his "Ancient Lamps" website at  https://romulus2.com/lamps/index.shtml : "These African Red Slip (ARS) lamps were produced in enormous quantities since they were largely intended for export. The fabric of this Hayes Type IIa tends to be fairly hard and well-fired, and they have very often survived in pristine condition due to the arid burial environment in Tunisia. This example from Ancient & Oriental is typical and I see absolutely no reason to doubt its authenticity."

And this was the dealer's response to my inquiry:

"Yes, these lamps were mould made and mass produced in antiquity. Thanks to their quantity and often good burial condition, it is not unusual to find examples in such pristine condition. Should you wish to find more information on oil lamps, an excellent resource would be this document from the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has an extensive oil lamp collection: https://www.getty.edu/publications/ancientlamps/assets/downloads/AncientLamps_Bussiere_LindrosWohl.pdf  [see Jean Bussière & Birgitta Lindros Wohl, Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Getty Publications, Los Angeles, CA, 2017)].
 Atlante X Hayes IIA type lamps, as the piece you have purchased, are covered from page 352."

Again from @David Knell's website, at https://romulus2.com/lamps/lampcat/lampcatnotes.shtml, a very useful photo identifying the often-referenced parts of ancient oil lamps:

And here are some Hayes Type IIA lamps similar to mine, with descriptions of the type:

From the Getty publication at p. 352, concerning the two major types of these Tunisian lamps, according to Hayes's classification:

"Subtype II A groups lamps from central Tunisia characterized by a fine clay, glossy light orange slip, and carefully executed decoration using a great number of neatly drawn
shoulder motives. Subtype II B groups lamps from northern Tunisia characterized by a coarser clay, dull brick-red slip, and larger shoulder stamps of often blurred quality. Lamps of Hayes types I and II, initially produced in Tunisia only, were broadly exported, then imitated
throughout the Roman Empire for three centuries; consequently, they are extremely numerous. Several typologies have been worked out, but so far none is totally satisfactory, for new series continue to be distinguished. The basic work is the classification given in Atlante I, pp.
200–204, by Anselmino and Pavolini. . . . The Getty lamps of the types 
here considered all date to the fifth or sixth century A.D., with the exception of cat. 492."

No. 497:

"Description: Moldmade, from plaster mold. Solid spikelike handle
flattened on sides. Oval elongated body. Shoulder: stamps alternating
between beaded triangles and concentric circles (Répertoire, Cg42 and
Da20); stamps next to nozzle are half Répertoire, Da20. Two equal-sized
filling-holes, at upper right and left. Discus surrounded by ridge,
continuing around nozzle to form broad channel. Raised rounded base ring connected to handle; two thin concentric circles in middle of base.
Discus Iconography: Dromedary with saddlebag walking to right,
toward handle.
Type: Atlante X; Hayes II A"

Note the close similarity to my new lamp of the design of alternating concentric circles and beaded triangles around the outside border of the discus (except that the triangles point inwards rather than outwards). In  addition, the same design of two  thin concentric circles appears in the middle of the bottom (underside) of both this lamp and my lamp. The bottom of the Getty lamp:

Do these similarities in the secondary design elements suggest a possible common origin for the two lamps?

Next, from David Knell's website, No. BNA6 at https://romulus2.com/lamps/database/lamp.php?103:

From Hayes 1980, p. 63:

From Hayes 1980, p. 68, describing lamp No. 288, Type IIA:

Photo of Lamp No. 288, from Hayes 1980, Plate 34:

 

Finally, from the article Late Antique oil lamps from the Archaeological Museum in Split (Zagreb, Croatia 2012), another description of the various Hayes subtypes:

"J. W. Hayes divided Late Antique oil lamps from North Africa into
two types. Type I includes lamps that have an oval discus, a narrow
diagonal shoulder and a short nozzle. It is divided into two sub-types
(Hayes IA and Hayes IB) which differ based on the handle form. The first
is dated to the early fourth century, while the second to the late fourth
to early fifth centuries. Type II has a circular discus, a wide and straight
shoulder, a long nozzle and a wedged, outwardly drawn handle. This
type is also divided into two sub-types (Hayes IIA and Hayes IIB). The
differences between them are apparent in the quality of the clear and
the clarity and precision of the ornamentation. Type II is dated from the
late fourth century to roughly the year 550. Regardless of the types,
individual examples have workshop stamps in the middle of bottom
(most often individual letters or monograms). Since these lamps were in
use over a long period, variants emerged which combined the features
of the aforementioned principal types, with a rectangular discus or
shoulders that flow continually dividing the discus from the channel."

From the same article Late Antique oil lamps from the Archaeological Museum in Split, some Hayes Type IIA lamps, at Pl. I Nos. 4-6:

Again, note the border of alternating beaded triangles and concentric circles on the lamp on the right. Perhaps it was simply a frequently-used design 

Donna,

That's an extremely impressive summary of your new lamp!

Some scholars have attempted an interpretation of the shoulder decoration on these Hayes Type IIa, produced by stamping poinçons into the damp plaster mould, but I suspect that most of them are simply abstract successors of the more naturalistic shoulder stamps appearing on a few of the earlier Hayes Type I and are merely decorative. The thin concentric circles on the base of both your lamp and the Getty example are a standard feature on Hayes Type IIa from Byzacena in central Tunisia and are unrelated to the shoulder decor.

> the dealer identified it as a deer, but there are no deer in North Africa!

You're forgetting the 'Barbary stag' (Cervus elaphus barbarus), a subspecies of red deer native to Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. They were presumably far more populous in antiquity and are quite often depicted, typically with large branching antlers, on Roman lamps from North Africa.

It should also be borne in mind that lamps made in North Africa were largely intended for export and their makers did not necessarily restrict iconography to only native fauna.

However, I'm no zoologist but I think you may well be right that the animal with straight short horns on your lamp is more likely to be a species of antelope.
 

David

John,
Karawani replied privately to my earlier post about his fake bronze lamps, apologised, removed those from his website and vowed to never sell them again. Hmm, we can see how that played out a few years later ...
Ancient Heritage: An enduring tradition (ancient-heritage.blogspot.com)

No reply to my other post on the general fakes - but to be fair, what could he say? I suspect he knows very well what he's doing. The items just mysteriously disappeared from his website the next day.

> Maybe it is a body used to cover up shenanigan's?
I think that's a pretty spot-on assessment of the AIAD. When a real association won't have you, no problem: just create your own!

David

5 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Believe me, @antwerpen2306,  I understand how difficult it may be to accept that a prized artifact that you have owned since 2009 is a fake.  Unfortunately, however, I think Dr. Lipkin's link to a series of known fakes that look exactly like your artifact leaves no doubt that yours is a fake as well. Equally unfortunately, @Kyri is correct:  you cannot rely on Artemission as being an entirely trustworthy dealer.  To the contrary, Artemission's proprietor is well-known as a seller who is not necessarily trustworthy. He sells many genuine artifacts, but has also repeatedly sold artifacts identified as fakes -- perhaps not deliberately, but carelessly at least.  And quite a few of the genuine artifacts are mis-identified. 

Indeed, while a large proportion of the stock sold by Artemission is authentic, his reputation is not exactly encouraging. One of my blog posts from a few years ago ...

Ancient Heritage: "There is no evidence" that these antiquities are fakes (ancient-heritage.blogspot.com)

David
 

If you take photos of coins against a busy background, the camera automatically focuses on the background. If you take photos of coins against a plain background, the camera automatically focuses on the coins.