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Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail
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Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail
Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail
Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail
Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail
Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail
Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner Thumbnail

Oil Lamp with Bound Prisoner

Meroitic (Artist)
1st century BCE-2nd century CE (Meroitic)
bronze
(Ancient Egypt and Nubia )

Elaborate oil lamps with figural attachments were common at the royal court in the ancient kingdom of Meroë. This lamp depicts a captive nude prisoner, his hands bound to his ankles. The lamp would have been suspended by a chain from the collar around the figure's neck. A Meroitic symbol, perhaps an owner's mark, is incised on the prisoner's shoulders.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Guilhou Sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 16-18 March 1905, lot 307 [said to be found in Egypt]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1905, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Exhibitions

2012-2013 Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton.
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Geographies

Egypt (Place of Origin)

Measurements

W: 4 1/8 x D: 3 9/16 x L: 10 in. (10.4 x 9 x 25.4 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1905

Location in Museum

Centre Street: Second Floor: Egyptian Art

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

54.1549

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Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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