Identifying oil lamps

Nozzle, filling hole, and mold.

Roman pottery lamps are mold-made with a nozzle, a filling hole, and often a decorated discus. Maker stamps appear on the base, and the discus scenes — gladiators, deities, animals, the occasional indecency — are datable by style and subject.

The families are recognisable: volute lamps with elegant scrolls beside the nozzle are early Imperial; plain, sturdy factory lamps (Firmalampen) with channel nozzles came later and carry the clearest maker stamps.

A sooted, burnt nozzle proves the lamp was actually used; an immaculate nozzle on a “used” lamp is worth a second look. Fabric and glaze-like slip vary by region and workshop.

Lamps have been reproduced for the tourist trade for two centuries, usually cast from originals with soft detail and the wrong fabric. Record fabric colour, stamp, scene, and sooting — together they date and place a lamp well.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on domestic objects

Identifying mirrors — Polished metal discs.

Identifying clay tobacco pipes — Bowl shape and heel marks.

Identifying agricultural tools — Sickles, billhooks, plough irons, and the seasons written in iron.

Identifying fishing gear — Hooks, net weights, and line sinkers from rivers, lakes, and coasts.

Identifying spindle whorls and loom weights — The flywheels and tensioners of home textile production.

Identifying styli and writing equipment — Iron pens, wax spatulas, and the tools of everyday literacy.

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