A Roman oil lamp type in beige terracotta. The discus shows a half figure of a young satyr, wearing a deerskin, holding thyrsus and pipes. Olive branches in light relief around the perimeter.
 
Ancient Roman: Circa 2nd - 3rd century AD.
 
Complete and intact; the details quite worn.
Length 11.6 cms (4.6 ins)
 
Provenance: Swiss priv. coll. Basel-Landschaft. Before that in German priv. coll. Lörrach, since the 1980.
 
Literature: Compare with Q3250; D.M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum, vol. II, 1980.
 
The thyrsus was a sacred instrument at religious rituals and fêtes, and was typically associated with the Greek god Dionysus (and his Roman equivalent, Bacchus) as a symbol of prosperity, fertility, and hedonism.
 
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