Featured Ancient ... but not a coin! Artifacts thread! Post 'em!

similar, but made of stone

 

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https://mmbeautyandthebeasts.wixsit...acred-scarab-story?lightbox=dataItem-k2vsm697

 

Unfortunately the style of your lamp is "off". The "erotica" scene is the most commonly faked. Most telling, the makers mark on the bottom is modern and not Roman.

Check out these sites:

https://www.mpm.edu/research-collec...n-oil-lamps/description-and-history-oil-lamps

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

http://www.lychnology.org

Sorry,

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Nothing fancy, just a utilitarian little Roman redware piece from the 1st-3rd century AD. It's six inches tall, so it will be easy to display in my limited space without being overwhelming (I haven't received it yet). I'm not sure what to call it - it was tagged as a vase, but I think it more likely held oils, or maybe wine, or some other liquid. My tiny little collection is all stone or metal, so I wanted to add some color into the mix, and I just really liked the classic shape of this piece.

 

Here are two more useful educational pages on real vs. fake ancient oil lamps, on a website that has similar pages on other commonly-forged types of antiquities:

http://www.collector-antiquities.com/real-or-fake/fake-oil-lamps.html

http://www.collector-antiquities.com/real-or-fake/fake-oil-lamps-section-2.html

 

Nice piece. The curve and flare of the top is very well done stylistically.

I would have to dig out some old books but the color, and especially the form, look more like the later Red African slip-ware (circa maybe 3rd to 6th century) than the earlier terra sigillatta (circa 1st to 3rd century).

SC

 

Thanks for posting those sites Donna. Bron has really good info on fake lamps, scarabs, ushabti, fibulae and other stuff on his site.

Very nice guy too. I visited him at his home in London almost 20 years ago now. I still have a couple of Egyptian mace heads that came from him.

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I agree Bron's website has very good info. The items he offered are great as well. Here is a bronze Minerva figurine I purchased from him. Nice piece, and currently displaying on my working desk. Comes with an XRF analysis certificate.

 

Wow! That's beautiful.

 

Indeed. Very interesting pose. Seems to be walking a bit with left foot slightly ahead. Despite having helmet her arms are hanging down at her sides. certainly not the holding spear and shield pose.

 

I owe coin-friend @otlichnik to have made me win the following couple of ancient lamps. In fact, I exchanged the fake erotic lamp with them. The first is Roman and weighs 87.7 g. The second is possibly Greek and might have suffered from corrosion of the covering dye layer. It weighs 100 g. I also managed to post an important item which has Semitic engraving on both sides. It's likely to be a spear_ head or a pen resembling a very thin fish. It weighs only 11.7 g. Length : 10 cm. Hope you like them and that they're real and promising.

 

With a size at 10cm, the piece looks like a bronze arrowhead to me. I think some Mesopotamian arrowheads have a flat mid-rib area.

 

@happy_collector .Very fine. Thank you. Do you notice the Semitic engraving? It could lead us to the age of this pretty item.

 

Yes, I notice the engravings on the piece. However, I am no expert in the inscription itself, although I really love inscribed or decorated arrowheads.

I find the following weblinks quite interesting. They talk about similar Phoenician inscribed arrowheads.
http://www.proyectos.cchs.csic.es/SEL/sites/default/files/05elayi_5240f751.pdf
http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/05/inscribed-arrowheads.html

 

Very scientific, detailed and complex, due to the item itself. So ancient... Goes back to the bronze age. Probably early Canaanite language in its Phoenician or Hebrew forms. Possible origin : Levant ( Syro- Palesine). Maybe it would be impossible, at least for me, to determine or assess the exact age.

 

I normally do not buy exonumia items, but this medallion of Byzantine origin caught my eye at the last Roma E-Sale, so with no bids submitted on the closing day, probably due to the medallion's crude design and rough condition, I decided to bid on it.

As a work of art it certainly is not up in the ranks of the Greek or Roman works, but it does exude a early Medieval Byzantine flavor.

As for the possible attribution of the facing figure as being St. Basil the Great of Caesarea, that is something for specialists of the period to decide.

There is a similar general likeness compared to a typical icon:



Byzantine Empire, circa 7-12th century AD
Æ Medallion
OA (ligate) ΒΑ, nimbate and bearded bust of St. Basil the Great of Caesarea(?) facing, holding Gospels / Drill holes in form of cross and border.
37.07g, 47mm.
Brown patina with earthen deposits.
Rim notched on obverse, creating a "seriated" appearance.
Holed at 12 o’clock, reverse.
An unusual large medallion.
Lot 1644, Roma E-Sale 81
From a private UK collection.

 

I've always wanted a Ushabtis but got turned off by all the fakes on eBay, where can I shop with confidence and look for some nice antiquites from Egypt and Isreal? Thanks for your help. Mike.

 

I'd try vcoins. There are often small antiquities there. The dealers code they have to ascribe to means that even if it turns out to be fake you can get reimbursed, though most dealers there know their stuff.

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Thanks so much. Mike.