Roman Oil Lamp in the Academic Art Museum Bonn (Inv. 596)

The lamp, dated to the second half of the 2nd century/the early 3rd century AD, is of Italic production and its findspot is unknown. Since the 3rd century BC lamps were made of clay in moulds of the top and bottom side, attached to each other an fired. They are lens-shaped, have a projecting spout and show a rich ornamentation in relief on the top side. The hole in the top side was used to fill in the oil while the hole in the spout held the wick. The Romans used vegetable oil, especially from olives. The relief on the top side of the Bonn example shows in the background some multistoried buildings next to the water. In the foreground on the left there is a fisherman standing on rocky ground who casted a net. On the right side there is another fisherman sitting in a boat.

该油灯年代可追溯至公元2世纪下半叶/3世纪早期，为意大利（Italic）制品，其出土地点不明。早在公元前3世纪，陶制油灯便采用上下分型模具成型，组装后进行烧制。此类油灯呈透镜造型，带有突出的流口，顶面装饰有繁复的浮雕纹样。顶面的开孔用于注入燃油，流口处的开孔则用于放置灯芯。古罗马人多使用植物油，其中尤以橄榄油为主。这件波恩馆藏油灯的顶面浮雕中，背景为临水的多层建筑；画面左侧前景处，一名站在岩石滩涂之上的渔夫正撒开渔网；画面右侧则另有一名坐于船中的渔夫。