The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Stand

late 300s CE

Byzantium, Syria, Byzantine period

(?)
silver
Overall: 42.6 x 16 cm (16 3/4 x 6 5/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1954.597.b
Location: 104 Late Antiquity

Description

Numerous oil lamps of various shapes and sizes have survived from the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. Most served a basic utilitarian function and were plainly fashioned from clay or bronze. However, a few more elaborate examples, such as this one, have survived in silver. Embellished with an elegant horse-head handle, this lamp was made to fit on the nearby stand, thus offering its owner flexibility of function.
  • reportedly found near Latakia, Syria. (Milton Girod, Sarthe, France).
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 52 archive.org
    Milliken, William. "Early Byzantine Silver." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 45, no. 3 (March 1958): 35-40. Mentioned: p. 37; Reproduced: p. 43 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 37 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 37 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 35 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 46-47, no. 6
  • Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007), the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008) and Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN (2/13/2009 - 6/7/2009): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
  • {{cite web|title=Stand|url=false|author=|year=late 300s CE|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.597.b