Mau, August: Pompeii: its life and art (New York , London: The MacMillan Company, 1899)

364

POMPEII

reader to the somewhat conventional bisellium carved on the

tomb of Calventius Quietus (Fig. 232).
The lamps are found in a great variety of forms. The essen-
tial parts are the body, containing the oil, which was poured in

through an opening in the

Fig. 184.— Lamps of the simplest form, with one
nozzle.


top, and the nozzle with
a hole for the wick (Fig.
184). Hand lamps were
usually provided with a
handle, hanging lamps
with projections contain-
ing holes through which
the chains could be passed.

The opening for the admission of oil was often closed by an

ornamental cover (Figs. 187, 188). In front of it, near the base

of the nozzle, was frequently a much smaller orifice through
which a large needle could be inserted to pick up the wick when

it had burned out and
sunk back into the oil,
and air could be admitted
when the cover was
closed.
The material of the
lamps was clay or bronze.
The bronze lamps were
more costly and ordinarily
more freely ornamented.


Fig. 185.-—Lamps with two nozzles.
At the left, a hanging lamp ; at the right, a hand lamp.

Those of clay were left
unglazed, or covered with a red glazing like that of the Arretian

ware; lamps with a greenish glaze are occasionally found.
The light furnished by the wicks was dim and smoky. A
more brilliant light was obtained by increasing the number of




Fig. 186. — Lamps with more than two nozzles.