Byzantine Copper Alloy Oil Lamps - Pair, One Multi-Nozzle on Feet

Eastern Mediterranean, Byzantine. A pair of cast copper-lead alloy oil lamps carrying the deep green and earthen encrustation of long burial. The first is a classic single-nozzle form: a rounded body swelling to a raised filling hole, drawn forward to a pinched wick spout, and finished behind with a bold looped ring handle rising above the shoulder, comfortable for the thumb. The second, heavier and more corroded, presents an unusual rectilinear body with multiple projecting nozzles along one edge and rests on four short cast feet, a workshop or ecclesiastical form built to cast a wider pool of light. Both served humble but essential roles, feeding flame from olive oil in domestic, funerary, or liturgical settings across the Byzantine world. Together they trace the enduring vocabulary of ancient lighting, function distilled into metal. Metal oil lamps were prestige objects relative to their ubiquitous ceramic counterparts, prized for durability and reusability. The looped handle of the single-nozzle example descends from Roman prototypes and persisted well into the Byzantine centuries. Multi-nozzle lamps, capable of sustaining several wicks at once, were often associated with churches, shrines, and communal spaces where greater illumination carried both practical and devotional weight, light being a recurring metaphor in Christian liturgy. The four supporting feet of the rectilinear example would have raised its wicks above a table or ledge, further suggesting a role in communal or ritual lighting. Please note that items in this lot contain from 7 to 28% lead. Item # 203800

Estimate:$300

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