A circular fawn pottery oil lamp with high-arched handle, some earthy encrustation, some patchy wear particularly on the underside and traces of soot deposits near the wick hole, but a nice example of the type, from the Levant, probably Palestine or Syria.
Size: 77 mm/3 ins. across
Culture: early Islamic
Date: c. 8th - 10th Century A.D.
Provenance: Ex Colorado private collection, and previously in the Major Blinkinsop Collection, acquired while working for the UN in the Middle East during the 1960s.
Background: Major Blinkinsop built up a very large collection of ancient lamps while serving in the Middle East. The entire collection was crated up and shipped to the USA at the onset of the 1967 Israeli-Arab War. These crates were reputedly only opened by his descendants in 2012.
