Double-spouted Hanging Lamp with the Figure of a Comic Actor

A seated comic actor forms the main part of the body of this Hellenistic oil-burning lamp. A loop used for suspending the lamp emerges from the actor's head, oil was added to the lamp through a hole in his back, and two nozzles, which would have held wicks, emerge on either side of him. The actor wears the costume and takes the standard pose of a favorite character in Greek comedy, the plotting slave. The actor's mask with its wrinkled forehead, u-shaped eyebrows, and hair swept back in a sort of pompadour identify this character, as does his crossed-arm gesture with his chin resting on his fist.

This lamp was probably made in the 100s B.C. in Ptolemaic Egypt, when the country was ruled by a Greek dynasty. Hanging lamps taking the form of miniature sculptures were popular in Egypt and the fabric of this lamp--a reddish clay coated with a glossy red slip--also suggests that origin.