Not currently on display at the V&A

Lamp in the form of a Dove

Lamp
ca. 500 - 600 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Byzantine Empire (made)
Egypt (made)

Lamp in the form of a Dove, the body modelled with feathers, the head with beak and eyes. The back with an aperture covered by a leaf-shaped lid, now with a suspension loop, the tail ending in a spout. The dove stands on a circular disc which is pierced with a square aperture.


Object details

Categories
Metalwork
Lighting
Africa
Object type
Lamp
TitleLamp in the form of a Dove
Materials and techniques
Bronze, cast
Bronze
Casting
Brief description
Hanging lamp in the form of a dove, possibly Egypt, early Byzantine, ca. 500 - 600
Physical description
Lamp in the form of a Dove, the body modelled with feathers, the head with beak and eyes. The back with an aperture covered by a leaf-shaped lid, now with a suspension loop, the tail ending in a spout. The dove stands on a circular disc which is pierced with a square aperture.
Dimensions
  • Height: 13cm
  • Width: 5.5cm
  • Length: 16cm
Dimensions were taken by SCP on 08.12.14 for Bronze Zoo: A Sculptural Menagerie
Styles
Byzantine
Late Antique
Marks and inscriptions
None
Object history
For lamps such as this, the oil was poured through the aperture in the back, and the spout held a wick. The disc base is pierced with an aperture so that the lamp could be mounted on the spigot of a stand. Such lamps, perhaps deriving from Oriental prototypes, may themselves have inspired the enamellers of medieval Limoges, one of whose most distinctive products were enamelled pyxes in the shape of doves (known as eucharistic doves) which were suspended by chains above the altar.

Purchased from Robin Symes, London, in 1970; said to have been found in Asia Minor.
Production
Byzantine Empire
Subject depicted
Bird
Bibliographic references
  • Williamson, Paul (ed.), The Medieval Treasury, London: V&A Publications, 1998, pp. 50-51.
  • Beckwith, John. “An Early Christian Bronze Lamp.” Archivo Español de Arqueologia 45-47 (1972-74): 463-65 (reprinted in John Beckwith, Studies in Byzantine and Medieval Western Art, 311-13. London, 1989).
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
M.27-1970

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O377126/lamp-in-the-form-of-lamp-unknown/
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