50 BULLETIN 141, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The lamp beam shown in Plate 43, Figure 7, is of curious interest. 

 The beam is of cast iron, a triform loop in the center and at the ends, 

 crozier heads from which hang chains to which the lamps are at- 

 tached. At the attachment of the chains are small iron crosses. The 

 design on the bar of the beam is a scallop shell with volutes on either 

 side. The lamps are iron beaten into boat shape, and show traces of 

 wick tongues, as seen in Italian lamps of an early period. The 

 tweezers are of brass. The snuffers are of iron and of old form, but 

 may not be contemporaneous with the rest, as the tweezers would be 

 sufficient for tending the wick. The lamp beam is evidently eccle- 

 siastical and perhaps early seventeenth century. (Cat. No. 168127; 

 G. Brown Goode; 22.2 inches (56.5 cm.) high.) On Plate 43, Figures 

 ■ 1-3, are shown two two-spout hanging lamps and a single burner, 

 all of terra cotta and similar to the specimen attached to an iron 

 lamp stand described on page 49. (Cat. Nos. 167648, 167636, 168154; 

 Italy; G. Brown Goode.) Figure 4 is a curious three-spout terra- 

 cotta lamp, light brown in color, washed with darker brown. This 

 lamp appears to be authentic and shows marked traces of use. The 

 opening to the reservoir is annular, surrounding a tube arising from 

 the bottom and projecting above the top of the lamp. Through this 

 tube is passed at present a chain with flat brass links having a disk 

 stop at the lower end by which the lamp could be hung. The simi- 

 larity of this specimen to the lucerna reservoir and burners is com- 

 plete (see p. 61). The date of the specimen would seem to throw 

 light on the ancestry of the lucerna. (Cat. No. 167651, Italy; G. 

 Brown Goode, reservoir 3.5 inches (9 cm.) diameter.) 



The series of lamps, three ancient and one modern, plate 42b, 

 middle row, indicate in a striking manner the persistence in time of 

 a particular form of lamp. Figure 6 is a crude pottery lamp having 

 an open trough for the wick prolonged from the body of the lamp 

 and a neck through which oil is poured. It was collected a few 

 j'-ears ago at Yarkand, Eastern Turkestan (Cat. No. 175140), by 

 W. L. Abbott (5.9 inches (15 cm.) long). This recent lamp may 

 be compared with the adjoining specimens. Figure 7 is a glazed 

 lamp, also from Turkestan, dating about the twelfth century A. D. 

 (Cat. No. 259384, Turkestan; Museum of Peter the Great, Leningrad, 

 S. R.) Figure 8 is a lamp having a beautiful glaze of turquoise blue 

 having a more refined form but of the same type as the other 

 specimens. The lamp is of the tenth century. (Cat. No. 9586, 

 Turkey in Asia; Tiffany and Co.; 4.4 inches (11 cm.) long.) Figure 

 9 is a lamp glazed in colors, having a trough for the wick, but 

 differing in the treatment of the reservoir opening. (Cat. No. 259388, 

 Eastern Turkestan, 12th-13th century; Museum of Peter the Great, 

 Leningrad, S. R.) A lamp of this type is one of the Babylonian 

 star emblems and is found cut on a stone kuduru dating about 1800 

 B. C. (See p. 44.) 



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