Antique clay lamp featuring two holes: one, more central, was used to insert oil, while the other allowed an air supply to make it burn and thereby obtain light.

On the top of the lamp, called the medallion, appears a depiction of the end of a fight between two gladiators. The one on the right, a standing “secutor,” wears a helmet and is equipped with armour on his left arm, called the “manica.” The other, a “retiarius” kneeling near his net stretched out on the ground, called the “rete,” slowly collapses, defeated, in front of his adversary who has just dealt him the fatal blow.

The material used, engobe, consists of a thin layer of fine earth, which is white or coloured by oxides, covered with ceramic to conceal the colour or texture of the paste or to decorate it.

On the bottom of this antique lamp, which comes from Carthage in Tunisia, we find the inlaid mark “GABINIA.”

Donation from a collector
Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
1990 188 Z