III. Roman-Period Clay Lamps / Types from both Western and Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire / Augustan and Imperial Lamps

Deneauve type VI A

272

Lamps of this type have a flat-topped oval body. The nozzle is not distinct from the body but is the prolongation of its tapering lower end. Some examples have a handle, most do not. A broad flat shoulder, either plain or decorated (often with ovolos, or with small relief designs), encircles a rather small concave plain discus, which is itself surrounded by a ring marked off by two circular grooves. Facing the nozzle, this ring may be interrupted by a small channel, whose length can vary considerably (cf. four examples of Deneauve 1969, nos. 691–94, pl. 67). On cat. 272 we may suppose that the vertical groove between the ring and the short horizontal groove flanked by two small dots is reminiscent of this channel.

The flat oval base of lamps of Deneauve type VI A may have a workshop signature in planta pedis, as cat. 272 does, or in tria nomina: BASSA (Deneauve 1969, no. 691, from Carthage); C.CLOSVC (Deneauve 1969, no. 694, from Carthage); C.OPPI.RES (Bailey BM II, Q 1109); CLODIA (Brussels inv. no. R.614, quoted by Bailey BM II, p. 244); or COLOAVIX (Bussière 2000, no. 727, pl. 48, from Tebessa). Taking into account the small number of signatures of these workshops, the type seems to have had a limited production outside Italy, where its presence is well attested in Pompeii (Pavolini 1977, p. 37: “80 lucerne [nei magazzini di Pompei] sono riferibili al tipo Deneauve VI A”). Its date can, following Bailey, be assigned to the Flavian to Early Trajanic period, although a few examples with signatures in planta pedis might have been produced in Neronian times.

Banner image: Detail of cat. 272