Light the Ancient World

[Ron Kelley]

Many years ago I started collecting oil lamps. At first I was not at all careful who I dealt with. As the collection grew I became more and more careful in my buying. I now have a small collection of 24 oil lamps: Some are ancient and some are not. One obvious fake I decided to burn (See above). I wish I could take them to a knowledgeable person to have them sorted for possible destruction. I hate fakes. I just don't know where to start. Here are a few of my favorites:

[JoshinMO]

Ron, Good Post!
How do you make a moving pic like that?

[Ron Kelley]

Hi Josh,
I used a Photo Shop program called Image Ready. I put the camera on a tripod and took 4 pictures while the lamp was burning. It was important that the camera not move. Then I used the four pictures to make a simple gif file.
Ron

[CMD]

Those are nice. I always wanted to get a lamp from the Holy Land from the early Christian Era, but never did. Thanks for showing us those examples.

[rmartin]

CMD wrote:

Those are nice. I always wanted to get a lamp from the Holy Land from the early Christian Era, but never did. Thanks for showing us those examples.

  Same here. These things have always fascinated me for some reason. You have a very nice collection of them!

[Ron Kelley]

I am happy to see the interest in Lamps. I will post some more.

[CMD]

Thanks, Ron. Those are very nice. Does the last set fall into a broad time range, like late B.C. through early A.D.? Or can the date range be narrowed down more?

[Ron Kelley]

CMD wrote:

Thanks, Ron. Those are very nice. Does the last set fall into a broad time range, like late B.C. through early A.D.? Or can the date range be narrowed down more?

I have good info on the first group but I really don’t have reliable info on the second group. I purchased a lamp reference book years ago but it is very incomplete. I really need to get that Adler reference.
FIRST GROUP
1. This is a terra cotta oil lamp from Israel, Iron Age (1200-560 BC), the shape is spouted bowl with flattened lip, rounded base. In this early open-style lamp, the wick was placed in the pinched area and the oil was exposed. 14.5 cm wide, a SUPERB example. Reference: Adler 11.
2. This is a typical Egyptian style "Frog Lamp" which is vaguely shaped and decorated like a frog. In ancient Egypt the frog was a symbol of fertility because when the Nile flooded and the fields became fertile with river silt, there was also an abundance of frogs, and the Egyptians thus linked it with bounty and fertility. Maker's mark on base. This lamp dates to 3-1 centuries BC. 8 cm long and INTACT nice example.
3.   Islamic Style round terra cotta oil lamp, 8-9 centuries AD. Round lamp decorated eight-pointed star on top and rosette on base. Form is same as Adler 1011
4. Late Samaritan Terra cotta oil lamp 3-5th centuries AD, with geometric motifs and pyramid handle. s, flat handle. 8 cm long. Design very sharp! Traces of soot near wick hole from use. See Adler, Oil Lamps of the Holy Land p. 130-131 for lamps of similar shape.
5. Byzantine "local" terra cotta oil lamp with geometric motif on nozzle with linear band and design around shoulders, ring base. cf. Adler 930 for type. These date 5-7 centuries AD. A perfect example. 9.5 cm long. Pressure crack on right side of fill hole, but not re-glued.

[Ron Kelley]

What not to buy: All lamps in this group were sold with POOR pictures. I am no pro photographer and my photos leave something to be desired. However when the pictures are really bad I now wonder if the seller is hiding something. The first lamp is the one burning in my original post. The first two came with a fake sand coating which I washed off. The first two are not the right material: I don’t think any of these are the right material. The third lamp was not an attempt to scam: This lamp was sold in Israel as a reproduction of a very nice lamp in the museum. The last two look modern to my eyes.
Ron

[rmartin]

Thanks for the education Ron. After seeing some good ones the modern ones are recognized pretty easily.

[painshill]

Some really nice examples there Ron. I have a view on the styling of some of those in the second and third group but pottery ain't really my thing and I wouldn't be confident about vouching for the likely authenticity of those kinds of items unless they were actually in my hand. I've seen loads of fakes in the antique markets of Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey and Syria. I was convinced that (outside of the tourist souvenir shops) many of those I judged fake could not have been determined as such if all I had was a photograph.
maybe you already knew, but there is a condensed guide to the Adler collection on the web here:

http://www.steve-adler.com/OilLampsMain.htm

Nothing like as comprehensive or well illustrated as his book, but it's still pretty useful.

[Ron Kelley]

Roger many thanks. I ordered the book and wait in anticipation.
Thanks for the link. Some of the fakes are obvious but there are
others... that leave me wondering. I just don't know what to look for.
If I knew for sure I would test their hardness with an eight pound mall.
Ron

[painshill]

Yes, it can be pretty darned difficult. The better fakes are often made from the same clays or terracottas as used in ancient times and may also be moulded from an original. In the Egyptian markets for example you can easily tell those made from Nile mud (it’s characteristically yellow in colour) from modern clays but it’s generally the firing temperature and the effect that has on the clay that distinguishes modern from ancient. Modern items are normally fired at much higher kiln temperatures and that shows in the fusion of the clay particles – but fakers use low temperature kilns too.
Very few ancient lamps were glazed, the notable exception being Roman “firmalampen” produced from the first Century, which may have a distinctive vitreous lead glaze that has a greenish hue. They were however given a non-vitreous slip coating to prevent the oil sweating through the clay. It should be present on the inside as well as the outside and fakes often only have it on the outside. Slip applied to modern fakes sometimes leaves a tell-tale stray modern brush bristle or two embedded in the clay.
Other than that you really need to have a close look with a good magnifying glass at the design detail and its relief/crispness. One other useful thing to remember is that when copies are made from moulds of the real thing, the original item may have had cracks or chips. Fakers invariably modify the mould to remove those defects because it would otherwise be obvious that they had been cast. You can normally see the signs of those “repairs” on close examination.
I was very amused to be offered some fake ancient coins near an archaeological site in Turkey. Authentic coins of the period claimed invariably have a square hole in them that doesn’t go all the way through. This hole was a location point for a “peg” that made sure the dies for the two sides of the coin were properly aligned. The guy selling these had cast his fakes from an original but filled in the holes - probably because he thought tourists would be less keen to buy “imperfect” specimens!
Here’s a few resource links from my database which you may find useful.
Good reference collections here:

http://www.itca.co.jp/museume/

… and here with useful sections on fakes:

http://www.romulus2.com/lamps/

… and here, with some interesting information about the authenticity of the Passeri collection:

http://www.collector-antiquities.com/189/

… and the “ehow” guide to fakes here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_10026333_tell-roman-clay-oil-lamp-authentic.html

… and the “fakebusters” listings here:

http://www.thefakebusters.com/oil%20lamps/Orig%20fake%20menu%20Egyptian%20oil%20lamps.htm

plus some detailed pointers to fakery here:

http://www.accla.org/actaaccla/fakeoillamps.html

… and one of the main sources of modern replicas (many of which are moulded from the originals) here:

http://www.ancientlamps.com/index.html

You may also have heard of the “spit test.” When an ancient piece of pottery has been buried in the soil for a very long time, it usually absorbs an intense, earthy aroma. Dealers often wet the pottery (tap water is fine, mineral water is better, but spit normally comes readily to hand) to release the smell, since it can sometimes be a helpful indicator of authenticity. Once you have experienced this smell, it is not readily forgotten. Any kind of chemical aroma is generally not a good sign, but make sure your hands are well-rinsed in plain water (and you haven’t just eaten, if you use spit) before you check for odours. You may be able to familiarise yourself with the odour on the items you know to be genuine before you progress to the ones you are uncertain about.
Some folks say that your spit disappears quickly/immediately on old items but not on recent ones. That may be true as a generality, but personally I don’t regard it as terribly reliable.

[Ron Kelley]

That is some good stuff Roger. This will keep me busy for a spell.
Want you to know how much I appreciate all the information and
really helpful references.
Ron