ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Candelabrum

AAT Object Form/Functioncandleholders

CultureRoman

PeriodImperial

Date1st Century CE

MediumBronze

Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art

Dimensions4' 2" x 6 1/2" (127 x 16.5 cm)

Object number2005.034.001A/B

Label TextThree angular lion-paw feet support a fluted shaft crowned by a tray and calyx-shaped element. The latter is equipped inside with an iron spike, making this a candlestick. More often, however, a bronze oil-lamp would have been placed on top. Extensive floral decoration was broadly modeled in wax before casting. Its classicizing style and vocabulary, self-consciously echoing Greek work of the fifth and fourth centuries bc, is typical of the Julio-Claudian period. The lighting of the lamps in the evening was a ritual often mentioned in poetry as a prelude to a drinking party (symposium). Lamp-stands of this general type are known as early as the sixth century bc, where they are frequently depicted on vases; many contemporary Etruscan examples survive. Among Roman versions, this is one of the larger. The shafts are generally either fluted (as here), plain or foliate. Besides the bronze versions, several marble ones survive, while literary sources record others in wood, and one in marble that was studded with gems.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
Published ReferencesSotheby's New York, Antiquities (June 7, 2005), 44-45, lot 43.
Peter Lacovara and Jasper Gaunt, "From Pharaohs to Emperors: Egyptian, Near Eastern & Classical Antiquities at Emory," Minerva 17 (January/February 2006): 9-16.

ProvenanceEx private collection, California, from at least 1996. Purchased by MCCM from Sotheby's New York, June 7, 2005, lot 43.

Status

Not on view

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